


Beneath The Waters

by ennyousai



Category: Star Trek (2009)
Genre: F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-11-11
Updated: 2011-11-11
Packaged: 2017-10-25 23:03:38
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 23,235
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/275825
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ennyousai/pseuds/ennyousai
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The meeting of James Kirk and Leonard McCoy was nothing short of serendipitous. But find each other they did, and somehow managed to make a pretty decent go of it before Leonard mysteriously vanished. Now Jim's trying to track him down with the help of a young Bajoran girl desperate for a new life, and meanwhile time keeps ticking away...</p><p>Based on the fairytale East of the Sun, West of the Moon, and written for Star Trek Big Bang 2011.</p><p>Art by the lovely Alaria.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Beneath The Waters

[](http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v181/ellyr/?action=view&current=banner-bess-2-crop3.png)

_Prologue - Bajor 2255_

The ship didn’t look like much. Compared to the stately ships of Bajoran design that filled the Jalandra spaceport, this one was the quintessential ugly duckling: small, blocky, and rough around the edges. It wasn’t the kind of ship that inspired confidence or awe, or seemed to whisper that it could take you as far as your heart desired. If anything, it said you should strap yourself in and hold on tight, because it was going to be a bumpy ride. Or better yet, look elsewhere.

For Lyassa Imutta, however, it was love at first sight.

Lyassa knew that none of the Bajoran ships would take her. She was _Imutta_ , after all, a member of the lowest _d’jarra_ on Bajor, and forever marked as something filthy and despicable. None of the captains of those fancy, high-class cruisers would ever take someone like her on board. If she wanted to get off this planet, it would have to be by less reputable means. This ship, small and unimpressive and forgettable, was exactly what she needed.

Lyassa clutched her small bag of possessions a bit closer to her side, and started to make her way across the spaceport. Crew from the various ships were all positioned outside their vessels calling to prospective travelers, but they all fell silent as she walked past - the native Bajorans knew exactly what her ear ornamentation said about her lot in life, while the off-worlders only had to look at her clothes and see that she couldn’t pay their fees. She refused to look at the ground, though, and hide away in shame. She was done with letting her gods-cursed _d’jarra_ dictate her life.

Or she would be, as soon as she got on that ship and off Bajor.

Lyassa ran her speech through her head over and over as she approached the ship. _I can work hard. I don’t eat much. My mother always said I’m clever and quick, and that has to come in useful on a spaceship. I don’t scare easily. I’ll do whatever you tell me to, just please take me away from Bajor._ Her palms grew slippery with sweat, and she hoped she didn’t look as scared and jittery as she felt. She needed to look confident, like someone you’d want to take on board. She had a lot riding on this.

As it turned out, the Captain wasn’t even there. The ship itself was shut up tight like a fortress, dark and forbidding, and no one came to investigate when Lyassa pounded on the metal hull. All she managed to do was attract a few puzzled stares and jeering laughs from the passing crowd, exactly the kind of attention she didn’t want. After a few minutes she crouched low in the shade cast by the vessel’s hull, feeling miserable and ashamed and uncertain.

She’d been there for maybe half an hour when she heard footsteps drawing near. She lifted her head, ready to hurl an insult or perhaps a well aimed punch, but drew up short when she took a closer look at the man standing in front of her. His expression wasn’t hostile or jeering, and he wasn’t looking at her with the scorn and disgust that the higher caste Bajorans did. He was actually smiling - an open, friendly smile without any trace of a lie in it, and Lyassa thought she might like him.

“Hi there,” he said, and his voice was just as bright and cheerful as his smile. “Not that I’m trying to be presumptuous or anything, but it looks like you might have been waiting for me.”

This was it. Now or never. Lyassa scrambled to her feet and tried to look as imposing as her five feet four inches would allow.

“My name is Lyassa Imutta,” she said formally, “and I wish to purchase passage off of Bajor. I don’t have much in the way of currency, but I can work for my keep.” Her voice wavered, sounded young and uncertain, and she scowled. That was _not_ how she wanted to appear. “I’m not afraid of hard work,” she added, trying to save face.

“Imutta, huh?” he said, and Lyassa felt her heart sink. The main was clearly an off-worlder, probably Terran from what she could guess, but he knew enough about Bajoran culture to know what her last name signified. She felt her face grow hot and forced herself not to start fidgeting.

“Do you have a problem with that?” she finally managed to ask. It was a relief that she didn’t sound tremulous and scared.

The stranger laughed at that, but it wasn’t a mocking sound. It was open and friendly, and Lyassa decided that yes, she liked him. He had short hair the color of the grain fields in late summer, and his bright blue eyes revealed what she instinctively knew was a generous spirit. She’d seen enough false smiles in her life to know when someone was only showing a facade for politeness’ sake, and she didn’t see any signs of that now.

“None whatsoever,” he said with another one of those blinding smiles. “But you’ve gotta tell me just one thing, Lyassa Imutta. Why is it you’re looking to get off Bajor?”

Lyassa sized him up. She could tell that this wasn’t as easy a question as it sounded. She’d need to choose her words carefully.

“Tell me your name,” she said finally. “Tell me your name, and I’ll tell you why I want to leave. I can’t tell that to someone I don’t know.”

The man laughed. “You think giving you my name is enough for you to know me?”

“I know enough,” said Lyassa, meeting his eyes. “I’ve seen plenty of terrible people in my time, and I know you’re not one of them. I’m not stupid.”

“I didn't think you were,” said the stranger, soft and serious. “Believe me.” He extended his hand to her, like she was an equal instead of an invisible lower caste girl. “I’m Jim Kirk,” he said formally. “And that,” he gestured toward the looming hulk of the ship, “is my baby, the _Impossible Dream_.”

Lyassa hesitated only a second before taking Jim’s proffered hand. He had a firm, reassuring grip. Trustworthy. She looked up at the ship and decided she liked it, as well. The _Impossible Dream_. The name sounded like a good omen, reassuring her that she’d chosen well.

“All right,” she said, looking into Jim’s sky-colored eyes. “You know what Imutta means, right?” He nodded. “Then you also know what it’s like for us here. We’re barely acknowledged as Bajoran. The other _d’jarra_ treat us like exceptionally intelligent animals, not as individuals with minds and thoughts of our own.”

“I know,” said JIm, his voice full of sympathy. Sympathy, not pity, and Lyassa appreciated that. “There used to be societies on Earth that were organized according to caste. It was horrible. A lot of people were mistreated.”

Lyassa nodded. “Yes, exactly. And I’m tired of that, Jim Kirk,” she said, part angry and part defiant. She swallowed hard, forcing down the bitterness that so often threatened to overwhelm her. “I’m tired of being either ignored or spit upon. I never asked to be born an Imutta, you know. It’s not fair.”

“No, it’s not.” Jim regarded her steadily. “So let’s say I get you off Bajor. What would you want to do then?”

Lyassa thought about it for a minute. “I like reading, and writing,” she said finally. “The priest in my district was more tolerant than most, and he thought no one should be denied an education.” She felt a pang of loss as she remembered Sha’harin’s kind smile and the way his graceful fingers had guided her clumsy ones through the Bajoran alphabet. “He told me I should do anything I could to leave this place. He said I’d never have a future here.”

“And what kind of future do you want?”

“I want to help others,” said Lyassa firmly. “However I can. I think that maybe... maybe the best way to do that is through teaching. No one here really understands the Imutta, or stops to think that burying the dead is something honorable in and of itself. If I could help explain to people that caste doesn’t define who you are, maybe it would help. Maybe people would stop believing it’s something filthy.” She trailed off, feeling awkward and uncertain. She’d never been asked to explain herself before. She wasn’t sure how well she’d managed it.

Jim was smiling, though, and she figured that had to be a good sign.

“I think I like you, Lyassa Imutta.” He turned toward the _Dream_ and started to punch in the code to open the release hatch. “And you and I are gonna get along just fine.” The hatch creaked open and Jim hopped inside, turning to look back at her expectantly. “You coming?”

“Yes,” breathed Lyassa, hardly able to believe her luck. “Yes, I am.” She clambered up into the cargo hold, the first time she’d been on a _spaceship_ , and looked around. The ship’s interior seemed to match the exterior: old, worn-down, and marvelous. “Thank you.”

“What can I say? I have a soft spot for misfits who want to change the world.” Jim hit the controls to shut the door and started to head deeper into the shop. “Come on, then. We’ve got places to go.”

Lyassa hesitated before following him. Her pack felt heavy over shoulder, like the single treasure she owned was dragging her down until she could barely move. She remembered Sha’hirin’s words when he gave it to her: _The Prophets will show you what to do with this._ She hadn’t believed him at the time. But now...

“Wait,” she called, dropping to her knees and digging through the pack until her fingers closed around the smooth stone. “I have something for you.” She pulled out the lilac-colored shard and held it out. “This is yours.”

“Lyassa,” said Jim. “Trust me when I say I’m a philanthropist at heart, and you really don’t -”

Lyassa cut him off. “It wants to go to you.” She felt the stone pulse warmly in her hand, and knew she spoke the truth. “It can help you.”

Jim looked at the stone, then at Lyassa. “Help me,” he said softly. There was a heartsick, wistful expression on his face, like that of a man who had been away from home for many years. There was something personal and private about it, and Lyassa found herself looking away out of respect.

“It’s a shard from one of the Orbs of the Prophets,” she said. “It’s very valuable.”

Jim was silent for a moment, then she heard his sharp intake of breath. “How the hell did you manage to get it?”

“It was a gift.” She drew her shoulders back, defiant and proud. “I didn’t steal it, if that’s what your asking.”

“Whoa, whoa, not accusing you of anything. I’m just surprised, is all.” He didn’t sound accusing, Lyassa realized. She chanced a glimpse at his face. He looked torn between desperation and hope, his eyes fixed on the object in her hand.

“I think,” he said slowly, “that you might want to keep a hold of that for the time being.” He looked up at her, focused and intense, and Lyassa couldn’t help feeling like she’d taken the first steps on a journey that would take her further than she’d ever dreamed.

“But just so you know, I might have to ask you for it someday.”

Lyassa looked back at him and smiled, her first real smile in what was probably her entire life.

“Just say when.”

* * *

It was good to be out in the black again. Jim always felt awkward when he was stuck planetside - Mom had told him once it was probably a side effect of being born on a space ship - and it had gotten progressively worse over the past two years. He hated having to take any time away from what he personally liked to think of as the totally pointless quest to save his true love. It sounded more than a little melodramatic, but Jim rather liked thinking of his current predicament in fairy tale terms. It seemed to make it a bit easier to bear.

Stopping at Bajor might not have a been a total bust, though. He had a good feeling about Lyassa. She reminded him of himself, a little bit: downtrodden, scrappy, and equipped with a good amount of street smarts. She’d be good company, and Jim was getting tired of traveling alone.

There was also the matter of what she was carrying. First Contact with Bajor had only occurred some fifty years ago, and membership in the Federation was unlikely as long as it maintained its system of divided nation states and the strict _d’jarra_ caste system, but Jim had done his research before landing on the planet. He knew the basics of Bajoran mythology. He knew the purple stone Lyassa had held out to him was a shard from one of the Orbs of the Prophets, the sacred stones that were said to hold magical powers. Maybe some people would have laughed at him for placing his faith in such a thing, but after so many months of chasing one dead end after another, he’d figured the best thing to do was trust his instincts. And this time his instincts were telling him, _This can help you_.

Clinging to that thin tendril of hope, Jim slipped into his bunk and turned on his PADD. It was the same story ever day: he’d check for a message, a code, a signal, _something_ ; but there was nothing. Just like there had been nothing for the past two years. He might have come to expect it by now, but that didn’t stop him from feeling disappointed.

It also didn’t stop him from composing another message.

 _Dear Leonard_ , he typed, then stopped. Frowned. That was much too formal; he needed to revise it.

 _Bones _, he wrote, and that was much better, that was how it should be. _I stopped on Bajor for the day. I was only there on a supply run, but I think I might have found a way to find you_. He paused briefly, his heart thumping painfully in his chest. It had been so long since he’d allowed himself to hope, and he was afraid to do so now.__

 _This girl Lyassa_ , he wrote. _I think she might have something we can use. You remember that time when I told you about Bajoran culture and how important the Prophets are? Well, she has a piece of one of their Orbs, and I’m almost positive I felt something when she showed it to me. I know you don’t believe in the power of intuition or anything like that, but I can’t help thinking that this is a lucky break. Jim let his fingers trail across the cool surface of the plastic, imagining that he was touching his lover’s skin. I think it might lead me to wherever you are._

Jim stared at the screen for a few seconds, wishing with everything he had that he could have Bones with him _here_ , curled up together and trading stories about their day. Two years and the ache was just as deep. _I miss you_ , he wrote finally, and had to blink back the tears that threatened to spill down his cheeks. He took a deep breath,steadying himself, and added three more words.

 _I love you._

Jim fell asleep with his PADD clutched firmly against his chest. He dreamed of him and Leonard they had once been, happy and confident, talking about all of their hopes and ambitions. The Jim in that world still retained the sense that anything was possible, even a future where he and Leonard could be together. In this world it didn’t matter that he’d never finished high school while Leonard was already working on his second Masters Degree. In this world, Jim Kirk was good enough for Leonard McCoy.

 _You’ve always been good enough for me, darlin’,_ whispered the Leonard in his head. _Always good enough_.

Jim woke up with traces of tears on his cheeks. That wasn’t new. What was new was the knowledge that a shard of one of the Bajoran Orbs was on his ship, and for the first time in a long while, he thought there might be reason for hope.

 _Chapter I - Iowa, 2253_

On paper, it looked like James Tiberius Kirk and Leonard Horatio McCoy should never have met. There was no possible common ground between a high-school drop-out from the cornfields of Iowa, no matter how luminous his last name, and a medical genius from one of the oldest, wealthiest, most respected Southern families. Jim went to dive bars with battered pool tables and beer that came in cans. Leonard went to exclusive clubs where you needed a letter of recommendation to get in, then sat on leather chairs and sipped whiskey flights. Jim was known for saying college was just for suckers who didn’t have the creative capacity to think outside the box. Leonard fhad inished his undergrad early and was already working toward two simultaneous Masters Degrees. They were, in short, two very different people from two very different worlds whose paths had no reason whatsoever to cross.

There were times, however, when the unexpected happened.

It just so happened that in May 2253 a conference on emerging technologies used for regenerating damaged nerve tissue was held at the University of Iowa. Leonard McCoy, who had already distinguished himself as one of the brightest minds in the University of Mississippi’s medical program, had been invited to attend. That was not unusual by any means. There was a conference every day of the week for something or other; it was inevitable that someone as talented as young Mister McCoy would end up at at least some of them.

It was also not unusual for Jim Kirk to be in Iowa City. For all that he’d never officially graduated from high school, Jim had an undeniably fierce intelligence and could have gone anywhere he wanted. He could have impressed any professor at any school into getting him straight into graduate school, but the thing was, he just didn’t see the point. He had his bike and enough mechanical know-how to get himself a steady stream of work, and that was all he needed. His ambition seemed limited to the corn fields he grew up in. Then again, there were times when everyone needed a bit of nightlife, so it wasn’t that surprising that he’d end up in the City from time to time.

But while it wasn’t out of the ordinary for Jim and Leonard to both end up in Iowa City at the same time, it was nothing short of serendipity that they ended up at the same bar.

* * *

Jim always liked to visit the the Foxfoot when he was passing through town. The place had been a part of the Iowa City scene since before First Contact, and it served as a kind of safe haven for all the drifters and misfits who were on a grand tour through the corn belt. They had ten beers available on tap, another seven by the bottle, and burgers fried up in plenty of butter. They served the hard liquor - whiskey, Scotch, tequila - neat or on the rocks. Boots always stuck to the floor a little, and the furniture was worn down and scratched with a variety of hearts and initials. Not a fancy place, but the kind of place where you could go in only once a year and the bartenders would still remember what you were drinking. It was exactly Jim’s kind of dive.

“I’ll have a Great Lakes Porter,” he said, bellying up to the bar and flashing Lynne his best smile. “Gotta stick to the classics, right?”

“You know it.” Lynne had been working here for a least three years now, claiming that a few hours dealing with all the colorful characters who preferred the Foxfoot to the fancy downtown clubs was the only thing that kept her sane after a week of grad school philosophy seminars. “So what brings you here? We haven’t seen you for a few months now.”

Jim shrugged and started picking at the label on the beer bottle. “Stuff’s been going on back in Riverside. Hard to get away sometimes, you know?” Which wasn’t true, exactly - he hadn’t spoken to Frank since the day he moved out, George was living out in Denver with Aurelan, and Mom was off on another tour - but sometimes it was hard to get out from under the inertia. He thought it must be like being paralyzed. He’d look at at the flat Midwestern landscape and feel like he was choking to death, then he’d look up at the stars and feel like he was falling into an endless pit. The stars were beautiful, but he wasn’t sure if he hated them or loved them - they promised so much, but then he looked at his mother and saw how cruel they could be. It was easier to stay put. He wasn’t gaining anything, but he wasn’t losing anything, either.

Besides, he’d been out there once, on Tarsus, and that hadn’t really worked out.

The times when he started thinking like that, like he had to stay or go but couldn’t bring himself to go ahead and _choose_ , Jim couldn’t stand to be around anyone at all. He just got on his bike and drove and drove, all across the flat Midwestern landscape, not even sure what he was running from. All he knew was that he needed to get moving, and keep going until he collapsed from exhaustion.

Jim dragged himself back to the present and took a slug of beer. It was good stuff: there was a reason Great Lakes had been in business so long. “Anything new going on here since the last time I passed through?” he asked, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. It was only eight o’clock, not so early that the bar was deserted, but early enough that you could get a seat and not have to shout to be heard. Classic rock was coming out of the jukebox. Jim felt at right at home now, the ever-present itch underneath his skin fading into the background.

“Nah. Except that I passed my oral examination.” Jim raised his bottle in a toast and reached up to high five her. “Now I just have to finish the textual edits. But other than that...” Lynne shrugged and offered a rueful smile. “Same old, same old, yeah?”

“Yeah.” Jim took another sip and let his gaze travel across the bar. The college kids didn’t usually come here. They tended to go for hangouts that were a bit shinier, while most of the Foxfoot’s patrons were in the flannel shirts and worn blue jeans that said they worked for a living. Then Jim’s eye was caught by the man sitting by himself at one of the small round tables in the corner, and he raised his eyebrows in surprise. The stranger didn’t look like he belonged here. He was sporting a nice button down shirt and perfectly tailored trousers, the kind of simple yet elegant clothing that screamed money. Old money. _Real_ money, the kind that didn’t need to be flashed around to make a point. The stranger looked damn good in them, too - nice physique, dark hair, just a hint of facial hair. Now if only he would just relax a little, instead of shooting glances around the bar like he was waiting for some rough-mannered hooligan to beat him up for his lunch money.

“Hey, Lynne,” said Jim, jerking his head subtly over to rich-dark-and-handsome. “Who’s he? Doesn’t exactly look like your usual clientele.”

“Ah.” Lynne looked over at the corner and grinned. “As far as I know, he’s one of the academic types who came in for the conference this weekend. He’s probably one of those kids who went to Harvard or Yale and never had any real fun during college, then decides he wants to experience the joys of slumming.” She snorted. “He doesn’t look too comfortable with it, though, does he now? Gotta love the Ivies.”

“You’re telling me.” Jim watched the guy for another minute. He didn’t look as stuck-up as the East Coast college students that came home to Iowa for the summer. He looked intelligent and capable, like he might actually have something interesting to say. Jim swallowed the last of his beer and stood up. He was in the mood for some company tonight.

“Hey,” he said, approaching the corner table with his best smile in place. The stranger looked up, and yeah, he was good looking. Jim could totally appreciate that. “I’m guessing you’re not from around here.”

Handsome stranger gave Jim a look-over, a hint of a scowl showing up between his hazel eyes. Nice eyes, Jim thought. Very nice eyes.

“I’m not lookin’ for any trouble here,” said the stranger with a full-on Southern drawl. “I’m just here for a quiet drink.”

“Hey, now.” Jim spread his hands out and grinned. “I’m just looking for some conversation, and you’re here all by yourself. Seems a little lonely, you know?” Before the stranger had a chance to say anything in protest, Jim looked over at Lynne. “Two more of whatever he’s having.” When he turned back, the stranger had what looked suspiciously like the start of a smile dancing across his lips.

“You think you’re a real charmer, don’t ya?” he asked.

Jim laughed. “So I’ve been told.” He stuck his hand out. “Jim Kirk.”

“Leonard McCoy,” said Leonard, and shook. He had a nice, firm grip, with calluses on his palms. Rich, but apparently used to working hard at something or other. “And if we’re gonna be havin’ a conversation, you’d better sit your ass down.”

Jim did.

* * *

  
Jim and Bones ( _Jim called him Bones now; over their second glass of whiskey Jim had laughingly said there was no way he could be seen with someone named Leonard. After finding out Leonard was on the path to doctorhood, Jim jumped on Sawbones. Fifteen minutes later this was shortened to Bones_ ) learned a lot about each other that night. Bones learned all about Jim’s family history and how he felt trapped between the earth and the sky, unable to move either forward or back. Jim in turn came to understand the ins and outs of Bones’ world - Jim had been right in guessing that the other man came from wealth, but he’d never really thought about quite how confining that could be.

“It is and it isn’t,” said Bones after they’d moved from whiskey to Moscow Mules. “I mean, I have options, but that’s tempered with all this expectation. I’m good at what I do, and I love it, but it’s never enough.”

Jim raised his eyebrows. “What, finishing undergrad early and being top of the class medical school isn’t enough?”

Bones laughed. “Well, it is but,” a shadow fell across his face and he took a deep swig of his drink, “but it’s not really acknowledged, you know? I was always supposed to be the best, so doing well is nothing special. If I weren’t acing everything, my parents would be terribly disappointed. But when I do, it’s not a big deal either.” He smiled disparagingly. “I know, first world problem, right?”

“Maybe, yeah.” Jim’s hand slid across the table toward Leonard’s, then jerked away at the last second. “But living under a parent’s shadow is hard.” He shrugged and forced his trademark cocky grin back onto his face. “Guess that’s why you came here then, huh?” he asked. “You wanted to see how the other side lives?”

“I guess.” Bones’ eyes crinkled up at the corners. “That, and sometimes conferences get tiring. Everyone’s just real focused and intense, and at the end of the day I don’t really want to sit in some uptight club and talk about various grafting procedures. It’s not really all that relaxing, if you know what I mean.”

“And this is?”

“Yeah,” said Bones, showing honest to God _dimples_. “I like talking to you. I can tell you’re smart, and you could hold your own against one of those PhDs at the conference. I mean, maybe not in terms of medical science,” he said, and Jim rolled his eyes to concede the point, “but in anything else. I mean, you can talk about theoretical physics without making it sound like a garbled mess, you can differentiate between Tolkien and Lewis’ worldviews, and you don’t think communism and socialism are the same thing. You’re more than equal to anyone I went to school with, but you’re not pretentious or fake about it.”

Jim snorted. “Gee, thanks.”

“No really.” Bones leaned forward, earnest and a little bit drunk. “I like you, Jim. You’re not like anyone I’ve ever met before, and that’s a good thing.”

The truth of the matter was, Jim had never met anyone like Bones before, either. And while he’d never been one to believe in something as blatantly ridiculous as love at first sight, he couldn’t deny that he’d had more fun over the past two hours than he’d had in a good long while. Bones was intelligent, had a sharp sense of humor when it could be coaxed out, and oh, yeah, he was hot. Jim couldn’t deny that he liked him. Maybe more than he should, considering that they’d probably never see each other again.

They could have one good night together, though. If nothing else, they could have that much.

“You wanna go for a ride?” asked Jim.

Bones smiled. “Been waitin’ for you to ask.”

It was a beautiful night. The air was warm but not muggy, and Bones was a solid weight at Jim’s back as they spend down the highway leading out of the city center. It didn’t take long for them to get far enough out that the stars were visible in all of their bright glory, blazing overhead like they were putting on a show just for the two of them. Jim almost took them for granted now, having grown up under the endless sky of the Great Plains, but having Bones with him made him see it with fresh eyes. There was something inherently peaceful about the Midwestern nights, when there was nothing around but the empty fields and no sounds but the soft lowing of farm animals. It was restful in a way few other places could be.

They were maybe thirty miles out of Iowa City when Jim pulled off to the side and parked the bike. He and Bones struck out on foot across the empty land, far enough that they could no longer smell warm asphalt and gasoline, then flopped down onto the earth. The grass was high enough to surround them, secluding them in their own little world, and Jim felt a rare sense of peace.

“Thank you for bringing me here” said Bones after a minute, his voice low. “I never really look at the stars. It seems like at night I’m always working until I’m too tired to do anything but pass out. There’s never any time to take a minute and just be.” He shifted close enough to Jim that they were pressed against each other from hip to shoulder. “So, y’know. Thanks.”

Jim swallowed hard, drawing comfort from the warm bulk of another body. “I hate them and love them,” he confessed. “They’re beautiful, but they can also chew you up and then spit you right out. It’s like... there’s a part of me that really wants to stop looking, but I can’t. So I’m stuck.”

Jim could hear Bones shifting, and a second later the stars above him were blocked out by the other man’s bulk. “You have to go sometime Jim,” said Bones seriously. “I know I don’t know you, not really, but I can tell that you’re not going to happy staying here for the long run. For God’s sake man, you’re twenty years old and brilliant. You can do anything you want to, why you don’t just -”

Jim sat up and kissed him.

For a second Bones didn’t respond. And then he was kissing back, hard and forceful, and Jim could get into that. He could also get into the noises Bones was making, and the way Bones was shoving at Jim’s chest. All in all, things were moving in a very promising direction, a very promising direction indeed, and if Jim could just get Leonard’s belt undone -

“Wait.” Bones’ hands were on Jim’s shoulders, holding him back. His dark hair was tousled, and he was breathing hard. “Hang on a second.”

Jim blinked. “Um, sorry? I thought we were on the same page?”

“Oh we are,” said Bones. “Don’t you worry about that. But while I’m not opposed to some romantic stargazing, I cant say I’m too thrilled at the prospect of having a literal roll in the hay.”

Jim just stared at him for a moment, his brain too addled to process what was going on. Then he smiled. “Oh, okay.” He leaned forward to kiss Bones again, slow and sweet this time. “Your place or mine?” he murmured, pulling back just enough that his lips brushed lightly against Leonard’s.

Bones shivered. “Mine,” he gasped, his voice thick. “It’s pretty nice, you know, and comes with compliments from the University of Mississippi.”

“Sounds like a plan.” Jim pulled Bones to his feet and they made their way back to Jim’s bike, stopping frequently to kiss and grope, neither of them able to keep their hands off each other. It was a good thing the highway was deserted at that time of night, or Bones’ wandering fingers might have caused an accident. Luck was on their side, however, and they made it back to Iowa City without incident.

It was either luck, or fate.

* * *

It should have stopped after that one night. One amazing night, when Jim and Leonard learned each other’s bodies inside and out, kissing and licking and sucking until the eastern sky turned pink. Jim learned about how sensitive Leonard’s nipples were; Leonard found out Jim was horribly ticklish, a fact that he promptly used to his own advantage. Some rounds were slow and sweet, some were a bit spicier. All of them left both Jim and Leonard limp and satisfied, with contended smiles on their faces.

They had a good time. It could even be described as awesome. But at the end of the day, the unspoken rules of society dictated that this would be a One Night Stand.

The thing was, it wasn’t.

Leonard went back to Mississippi as soon as the conference was over, back to his studies and the pressure of becoming the best doctor on the North American continent. Jim stayed in Iowa, fixing classic cars and playing darts in dive bars. There was no reason for those two to ever think of each other again, except for whatever reason, they stayed in touch. Video calls at least twice a week, short messages throughout the day. And visits - Jim was usually the one heading down to Georgia for a long weekend, but once in a while Leonard managed to make it up north. The sex was great, the company was better, and both of them could admit that they were maybe just a little bit in love.

Unlikely as it was, Jim Kirk and Leonard McCoy had gotten under each other’s skin.

It made Leonard start to think about his choices. He thought that maybe he didn’t want to be the kind of doctor his father expected him to be, one who stayed shut up in large research hospitals and only took on those patients that would advance their personal research goals. He thought maybe he’d like to do something more general, something that would let him join the rank and file and actually help people. It would be just as challenging, just as interesting, and less ivory tower. The idea held a lot of appeal for him. Which was all well and good, only it didn’t hold much appeal for the old and wealthy McCoy clan.

And so eight months after Jim and Leonard’s chance meeting in an Iowa City bar, David and Eleonore McCoy took matters into their own hands.

 _Interlude_

 _Inanna-X015 was a strange planet. It was located in the Beta Quadrant at the edge of the Kassae system, and if it had been a large enough world to warrant much notice, it would probably have been renowned for its unique astronomical phenomena. Bright curtains of light even more colorful than Earth’s Aurora Borealis were found at its poles, and the galaxy’s spiral arms could be seen clearly almost each and every night, pulsing in shades of fiery red and orange. Any astronomer would have loved the chance to visit, if they ever received an invitation._

 _The planet’s inhabitants were by and large a self-contained, reclusive people, however, and they had no interest in establishing permanent lines of communication with the Federation. Unfortunately for them, they had a taste for luxury goods that they were unable to manufacture for themselves. Fortunately for them, their planet was beautiful, unique and isolated, qualities which were very appealing to a certain clientele. It was therefore easy enough for the Inannans to set up a system of resorts catering to a very specific crowd. Everything was very hush-hush and exclusive - someone who had already been to Inanna-X015 would suggest someone, they would then be vetted and, if everything checked out, they would receive an invitation to please come and visit. All that was required were a few small tokens of their appreciation, and they would have all the privacy and luxury they desired for a certain period of time. Everyone benefited from this system. The elites loved it, because they saw it as proof that they were somehow better than everyone else. The Inannans in turn got their fill of exotic goods. It was a win-win situation._

 _Most of the visitors came to see the planet’s crown jewel: a valley whose tall sides surrounded an immense and beautiful lake whose waters were clean, cold, and deep. Twice each day, once at sunrise and once at sunset, it was possible to row out to the lake’s center and see a perfect reflection of the planet’s sun and moon hovering at the very tips of the two peaks that guarded the valley. Because of that, it was sometimes referred to by a somewhat flowery, but also very apt moniker: the Land of the Drowned Twins._

 _Chapter II - Bajoran Space, 2255_

“So how long have you had the _Dream_?” Lyassa asked as she stuffed another moba fruit into her mouth. Growing up she’d never had the opportunity to eat as much as she wanted, and the food she’d had access to wasn’t all that satisfying - Imutta ate last was the rule, and got whatever the upper castes didn’t want. She was probably being horribly rude, stuffing her face like this, but she couldn’t really bring herself to care. Too much of her life had been spent being hungry, and the habit of grabbing as much as she could while it was in front of her was too deeply ingrained to break.

Jim didn’t seem to mind, though, just told her to be sure she didn’t make herself sick and pushed a cup of water in her direction.

“About one and a half years now.” Jim didn’t look up from whatever he was doing on his PADD - plotting a course, maybe, or calculating how far their current fuel supply would get them - but she could hear the affection in his voice. “She and I have an unplanned romance, but I wouldn’t trade her for the world.”

Lyassa abandoned the fruit and went for sweet rolls Jim had set out. “What, you didn’t think you’d ever leave Earth?”

Jim laughed. “Something like that, yeah.” He reached over and took a roll for himself. “I mean, I wasn’t happy back there, but I never really thought I’d end up here, either.”

“So how did you?”

Jim’s smile turned bittersweet. “Because I fell in love, do you believe that?” He shook his head like he was contemplating some private joke. “It’s crazy. I mean, back home they all called me a tomcat. Figured I’d never settle down.” Jim snorted. “And now here I am, on some kind of crazy-ass quest looking for my lost love.”

“You lost her?” asked Lyassa, curious.

“Not her,” corrected Jim. “ _Him_. Lost him.” He looked at her with one eyebrow cocked. “That’s not gonna be a problem, is it? Because I kinda like you, and it’d be a shame if I had to drop you off at the next space station because of irreconcilable differences.”

Lyassa snorted. “You must be joking. I’m _Imutta_ , Jim Kirk. People like me can’t afford to be picky about who we love; we’re grateful for whatever friendship we can get.” She raised her water glass in a toast, and smiled when she saw the spark of relief in Jim’s eyes. “You’ll have no trouble from me on that score.”

“Good to know.” Jim took a bite of his roll and washed it down with a slug of coffee. “So anyway. I fell in love with a guy. It took me completely off guard, you know? I mean...” Jim huffed a bit and looked down at his hands. “I mean, Earth’s not like Bajor. There are no castes there, no enforced inequality. But there are still these ideas about who you should and shouldn’t be with, and I guess I kinda picked the wrong person.”

“I always thought the whole point of love was that you didn’t pick someone. It just happens.”

“You’re not wrong,” admitted Jim. “But damned if it doesn’t feel that way.”

They lapsed into silence for a minute. It could have been awkward, but it wasn’t - Lyassa supposed that they were both outcasts and misfits in their own way, and that let them be comfortable with each other. She wanted to know more about how Jim had ended up here, though, so she didn’t wait too long before speaking up.

“So you fell in love with someone you shouldn’t have,” she said. “What happened after that?”

Jim’s tore into his roll, quick and efficient. “He vanished,” said Jim. “Just...vanished. We’d been keeping in contract pretty regularly - vid calls every night, messages during the day, that sort of thing. And then one day there was nothing.”

Lyassa raised her eyebrows. “And?”

Jim shrugged. “I contacted his parents. They didn’t tell me a damn thing, of course - they never liked me to begin with, and between you and me, they seemed pretty happy to see me so upset.”

“The upper classes usually are,” said Lyassa, unable to contain a spike of bitterness. “They think they have a monopoly on happiness, and if we try to reach for it we’re overstepping our bounds.”

“I always figured it was because they’re all too stuck-up to admit to their own misery and therefore hate the fact that we plebes might have something they don’t.” Jim shrugged. “Anyway. I might not be upper class, but I know a thing or two about computers and how to hack a data stream. I know Bones isn’t on Earth. I’m not sure where exactly he is, but I know it’s someplace else.”

Lyassa stared at him. “And you went out looking for him.”

“Yeah.” Jim’s gaze went distant. “It sounds stupid, I know. But what else was I supposed to do, sit in Iowa? That’s what I’d been doing my whole life, and it wasn’t working out. Something had to get me outta there.”

Lyassa was only eighteen, but she knew a great deal about desperate hope. It was what had driven her to the Jalandra spaceport, after all, hoping against hope that she might be able to find a ship that would carry her away from a life that held nothing but burning the corpses of the dead and clearing away the filth of her so-called betters. She had been lucky so far, it seemed, but she was wise enough to know how rare that was, and how easily the story could have gone in a different direction.

“Jim,” she said softly. “Jim, you know how vast the galaxy is. If you’ve already been as far as Bajor and not found anything, you probably never will. It might be easier for you if you found someone else, or at least took a chance on doing something different with your life now that you’re off Earth.”

“Easier?” Jim’s eyes glinted with fierce determination. “Definitely. There’s just one problem with that, namely that there’s no one else I want. Besides, people don’t just vanish. Someone has to have heard something about him somewhere down the line. So I’m going to find Bones, and we’re going to have our happily ever after.”

And even though she’d only known Jim Kirk for a very short period of time, Lyassa realized she believed him.

* * *

  
One of the first things Lyassa learned on board the _Impossible Dream_ was that it was difficult to fall asleep on a spaceship. She was used to sleeping crammed into a tiny hovel with the rest of her extended family, everyone pressed up close against each other in a giant pile of arms and legs. Back on Bajor she’d always drifted off to the sound of her cousin’s heavy breathing right next to her ear and her aunt’s breath tickling the back of her neck. The sounds of the city proper maintained a constant murmur even in the deepest part of the night, and the smell of cooking from the food stalls had always been thick in the air. Lyassa just wasn’t used to sleeping inside, with everything shut up and quiet and close, and she couldn’t stop listening for the sounds of things that weren’t there.

Her bunk was also too big. She supposed the Bajoran nobility would think it was only suitable for dogs, but to her it was absurdly luxurious. It was large enough that the full length of her body fit on the pallet, and she should have been thrilled. As it was, she just couldn’t get comfortable.

After half an hour she finally gave up. She sat up, flicked on the small light, and reached under the pillow for the shard that Sha’hirin had given her. It was pale lavender in color, and glowed softly in the warm lamplight. It was quite possibly the most beautiful object she’d ever seen, far more lovely than the expensive jewels with which the Bajoran women of the upper castes liked to adorn themselves.

It was also valuable beyond measure. If she’d wanted to sell it, she could have easily make a fortune and never lacked for anything ever again. She knew that was out of the question, however. Even if she weren’t Bajoran, and had not been raised to revere these precious artifacts given to them by the gods, she couldn’t deny the instinct that told her that this small shard of stone was far too important to release into the hands of a merchant.

She ran her fingers slowly across the smooth surface, marveling that it was warm to the touch. It didn’t come from one of the major Orbs, the ones that were displayed in places of great prominence in the capitol, but Sha’hirin had told her it contained some measure of power. “No matter how small and insignificant it looks, it’s a gift from the Prophets,” he’d said, his eyes serious as he pressed it into her hands. “And I can’t imagine anyone worthier than you to carry it out into the world.”

“I’m an Imutta,” she’d replied, shame turning her cheeks red. “I’m not worthy.”

The priest had smiled, gentle and compassionate, and enclosed her hands in his. “We both know better than that,” he’d said, and that had settled the matter.

Lyassa held it up, watching the light sparkle across its facets. She’d taken the shard, and had shown it to Jim, but he hadn’t taken it and she had no idea what she was supposed to do now. She’d never thought she’d get a chance to touch one of these, much less own one. Or serve as its steward, or whatever she was doing.

Up and down, up and down. Lyassa felt her eyes grow heavy. It looked like the light was dancing, a ribbon of solid energy pulsing out from the shard’s depths. It looked like it was arrowing straight toward her, bright and playful, and Lyassa smiled at it, open and welcoming, and then -

* * *

Jim was having a very nice dream. He was back in Iowa and it was summer, complete with sapphire blue skies and green fields of corn. The air itself smelled like honey, and the gentle breeze was warm against his bare arms. He’d always loved days like this, when he could hop on his bike and ride for miles, just him and the endless landscape, with no angry uncles or sad mothers and the ghosts of dead fathers hovering over his shoulder. On days like this, he’d felt free.

It was all so perfect, it wasn’t even a surprise that he saw Bones off in the distance waving at him, his figure tall and strong in the bright Midwestern sun. Jim’s lips turned up in a heartfelt grin and he ran forward, his heart thumping out a joyful rhythm as he got close enough to see his lover’s smile. It had been over a year since he’d seen that smile in person; far, far too long in his opinion, and Jim wanted to wrap himself up in it and never come out again.

“Bones,” he said, flinging his arms around his other half and holding on tight. “I missed you.”

Bones laughed and tilted his head to give Jim a very thorough kiss. He tasted just the same as he had all those months ago, peaches with a hint of bourbon, and Jim did his best to lick every bit of it from Bones’ mouth.

“Jim,” murmured Bones, pulling away with one last press of his lips, “Jim, I can’t stay long.”

“No.” Jim shook his head stubbornly and buried his head in Bones’ shoulder. “This is a dream. You can stay until I’m awake. That’s how it works.”

“Not quite that simple, darlin.’” Bones forced Jim’s chin up so they were eye-to-eye. “The place where I’m at has rules, you see, and while I’m there I have to follow them.”

“Rules?” Jim stared at him in confusion. “Bones, I don’t understand.”

“Jim.” Bones’ eyes were dark and desperate, like a man in danger of drowning. “Jim, you have to get me out of here.”

“I’m trying! But I don’t really have too much to go on here.” Jim stepped away and ran his his fingers through his hair in frustration. “One day you were just gone. All I could figure out was that you were off-planet. That eliminates one planet out of how many?”

“Only a couple billion or so.” Bones managed to smile just a little when Jim glared at him. “I know it’s hard, Jim, but you already took one leap of faith and now you just have to -”

He never got to finish the sentence. There was a sudden sharp crack, harsh and jarring, and then Jim was sitting bolt upright in his bunk. It felt like he’d just been kicked in the chest. He was panting for air, great heaving breaths, and he forced himself to slow down, establish a rhythm. In and out, in and out. One, two, three, four.

It had been a dream, he was sure. Only Bones had seemed to think otherwise, had said something about being somewhere, and having to follow the rules...

“Fuck it,” said Jim. “Fuck it.” He wasn’t going to be getting anymore sleep tonight. He grabbed his old, worn-out work jeans and slipped into them, then padded barefoot toward the galley for some coffee. Might as well get some work done.

He’d liked working on the cars back home, and he liked working on the _Dream_. He’d gotten her on little more than a wish and a song - she’d just been sitting out at the Riverside scrap yard, written off by everyone as too old and too decrepit to go into space anymore, but Jim had picked her up and made her pretty again. He’d had to call in a lot of favors, and do some things on the black market he probably shouldn’t have, but at the end of the day he’d ended up with his own ship. She might not be pretty, but she was _solid_ , and Jim wouldn’t trade her for anything.

She just needed some fine-tuning now and again. This time it was the impulse drive. Damn thing had been starting to act up again, putting out abrasive grinding noises instead of the usual soothing purr. Jim set to work cleaning the plasma conduits, adjusting the configuration of the driver coil, and making sure nothing was leaking or damaged. It was basic manual labor, dull but steadying, and by the time he was done Jim felt something inside of him ease.

“You doing okay there, baby?” he asked, resting one hand against the _Dream_ ’s hull, and could have sworn the ship purred an affirmative response. Jim grinned. “Yeah, you are.”

It was nice here in the engine room, where it was just him and his thoughts and the ship. Jim leaned back against the engine mechanism’s shell with a sigh and closed his eyes, letting the vibrations settle deep into his bones. It was peaceful here, right next to the _Dream_ ’s heart. It was home.

“You think we’ll find him?” he asked, tapping lightly against the metal casing. “Or I am just crazy?” He laughed softly. “You have to admit, it’s pretty far-fetched. I mean, I’m running across the universe looking for a man I’ve known less than a year. Stupid right?”

“Not at all.”

Jim jerked up to his feet, the adrenaline that had subsided while he’d worked on the impulse drive surging through his system once again. Lyassa was standing before him, still dressed in her sleep pants and shirt with her long dark hair hanging loosely around her face, but her entire demeanor had changed. When she’d found him at the space port she’d held herself defensively, with her shoulders drawn in and her eyes cast toward the ground. The woman standing before him now was completely different. Her carriage was proud and erect, that of someone who had never had to fear that she’d be ignored at best or killed at worst just for being who she was. The change was shocking.

And then there were the eyes.

Lyassa’s eyes were such a dark brown they were almost black, large and prominent in her narrow face. Those were not the eyes looking at him now. These eyes were a pale lavender that glowed softly in the dim light of the engine room. They were eerie and inhuman, and seeing them sent prickles of unease throughout Jim’s body.

“What the fuck are you?” asked Jim, already thinking of what he could use as a weapon. He didn’t know what he was up against, but he wasn’t going down without a fight.

The woman held her hands out, open and placating. “There is no need for alarm. I am not here to hurt you.”

Jim didn’t relax. “Sorry if I’m not ready to believe that just yet.” His eyes roamed skeptically up and down her body. “Does Lyassa know you’re in there or did you just jump in?”

The woman titled her head as if she didn’t understand the question. “Lyassa is of Bajor. Her people and mine have long understood each other. They know that when we need to make contact outside of our own realm, we need to use a physical body.”

Understanding clicked into place and some of the tension left Jim’s body. “You’re a Prophet.”

The Prophet smiled. “Yes.” She stepped forward and lifted her hand to Jim’s cheek. Her touch was cool and gentle. “I am a Prophet of Bajor, and I have come to help you.”

 _Interlude II_

 _When Leonard accepted the invitation to attend a conference on the effects of off-world substances on neurological disorders, there was nothing to indicate that things would go horribly, horribly wrong._

 _It was a legitimate conference. Plenty of sources verified that it was indeed being held in Vienna from January fourth to the sixteenth, and each one of the speakers was well-established in the field. Leonard knew three acquaintances who were also attending. He made his arrangements and went to the airport on January third, unhappy as ever at the prospect of space travel but eager to hear about the latest developments in the field. There was nothing at all to indicate he was walking into a trap._

 _He ordered a bourbon once he was on the shuttle, then closed his eyes. Shortly thereafter he fell asleep._

 _When he woke up, he was in a strange room. One side was nothing but large picture windows, showing off an impressive mountain view; the other three were polished white stone with no visible seams that indicated a door. A large white sofa was in the middle of the room, next to a metal stand that held a pitcher of water and a cup. It wasn’t exactly unpleasant, but there was no mistaking it for what it was._

 _A prison cell._

 _“Hello?” called Leonard, trying not to panic. Travel: no good ever came of it. He should have just stayed in Georgia and never gone anywhere, ever, just stayed home where it was safe -_

 _If he had never left Georgia, he would never have met Jim._

 _Leonard thought of Jim’s bright, open smile, the way his hair looked when he first woke up in the morning, the sound of his laugh, and felt a bit better. Holding the memory of his lover close like a talisman, Leonard forced his breathing to slow down. Having a meltdown wouldn’t help him right now. He needed to keep a clear head._

 _“Hello?” he asked again. There was still no response._

 _Leonard walked to the windows and looked out. Wherever the hell he was, it wasn’t Earth. The mountains looked all wrong - they had a reddish-gold tint he’d never seen in any ranges back homw, and the flora were all subtly different. Not any major changes, but just enough variation in the shapes of the leaves and the precise shades of color that told him he really wasn’t in Kansas anymore._

 _“Leonard McCoy.”_

 _He whirled around, heart in his mouth. There was a young person of indeterminate gender standing there: humanoid with bright red skin that shimmered in the light, dark eyes, and multiple thin tentacles that sprouted from its forehead and were caught together in a long braid down its back. It made for an undeniably striking effect. It also filled Leonard with profound unease - he hadn’t heard of any Federation species that matched this particular description, and he did not like the implications of that._

 _“That’s me,” he said, and swallowed hard. “Where am I?”_

 _“This planet is known by Inanna-X015.” The person’s voice was slightly accented, but not by much. They might not be Federation members, but they’d clearly had contact with Earth in the past._

 _Curiouser and curiouser._

 _“All right,” said Leonard, doing his best to keep his voice calm and steady. He thought he was doing quite admirably, if anyone cared to ask. “Would you be so kind as to tell me what I’m doing here? I believe I’m supposed to be in Vienna.”_

 _“My name is Eridan,” said the stranger. “And you are exactly where you are supposed to be. Your family has been very concerned about you Leonard, and so they arranged for you to take a vacation here on Inanna.”_

 _“My family...” Leonard felt anger pour through his veins, hot and thick. “This is about Jim, isn’t it? They never liked him even though it’s none of their damn business. I appreciate the hospitality, Eridan, but if you could just show me the door I’d like to be on my way.”_

 _Eridan was smiling, blank and impenetrable. “You must be thirsty.” The Inannan crossed to the table and poured a glass of water, extending it to Leonard. “Drink. Please.”_

 _Leonard raised his eyebrows. “Oh, come on now. We both know that water’s drugged.”_

 _Eridan’s face didn’t so much as twitch. “You must be thirsty, Leonard. And it would be much easier if you did not fight.”_

 _“Sorry,” said Leonard. “I’m not doing this willingly.”_

 _“I am sorry to hear that.” Eridan’s smile took on a regretful overtone. “But we entered into a contract, and it must be honored. I apologize that this will be unpleasant.”_

 _Whatever else they were, Inannas were_ fast. _Leonard barely had enough time to blink before Eridan was directly in front of him, dark eyes luminous and compelling. A long-fingered hand gripped his neck and he felt a pinch._

 _Then there was nothing._

 _Chapter III - Bajoran Quadrant, 2255_

Jim wasn’t sure what the proper etiquette was for hosting Bajoran Prophets. He’d certainly never expected to meet one, and he was essentially flying blind here.

“I don’t mean to be rude,” he said, “but I thought the Prophets never left Bajor. I mean, not that I know much about it so I could be completely off the mark, it just seems a little -”

“It has not happened prior to this,” said the Prophet serenely, seemingly unperturbed by Jim’s discomfort. “It is true that we are content to remain in our home space, but that that does not mean we are unaware of what happens elsewhere. We see much, both for good and ill, and are often compelled to act. In the past we have done so, for Bajor’s sake. Now we need to act for us all.”

“Okay.” Jim nodded. “That makes sense, I guess.” He pushed a basket of fruit across the table at his unexpected guest. He wasn’t sure if Prophets ate anything, but he figured Lyassa’s body had to get hungry, and had to be taken care of. He didn’t particularly like the way that system worked - he knew the Prophets were made of pure energy and didn’t have bodies of their own, but their assumption that they could just jump into anyone seemed a bit high-handed. He hoped the Prophet had at least asked Lyassa’s permission before making herself at home. It didn’t sound like it, though - based on what the Prophet had just said it sounded like they thought they had some kind of unspoken covenant with the Bajorans where they could just pop in whenever they deemed it necessary.

“We were aware of you from the instant you arrived in Bajoran space.” The Prophet ignored the food, keeping those eerie, inhuman eyes fixed on Jim’s face. It took a certain amount of willpower not to look away. “We felt certain energies swirling around you, unlike anything we had ever sensed before, and we knew we could not ignore this.”

There it was again. It seemed like all his life someone or other was harping on him about being something special, how his father had been such a great man and didn’t he want to follow in George Kirk’s footsteps; or put that big brain of his to use at some top-notch college, blah, blah, blah. Jim was sick of hearing it. He didn’t need anyone dictating how he should live his life.

“With all due respect, there’s nothing special about me,” said Jim, forcing a polite smile onto his face. “I’m just looking for someone, that’s all. People do it all the time.”

The Prophet shook her head, an elder chastising an errant child. “We do not exist in linear time, Jim Kirk, and because of that we see things that other do not. Twenty-two of your years ago we saw a massive disruption within the timestream. We took no action at first, out of fear that we would only serve to aggravate an unstable situation. When you arrived on our planet, however, we could sense traces of that same event clinging to you, and we felt we could not ignore it. You may not have any inherent qualities that make you special, as you call it, but time has certainly taken an interest in you.”

Jim felt cold. He did not, _did not_ , want to be hearing this. Twenty-two years ago the Kelvin had been destroyed in a freak lightning storm deep in unknown space. Twenty-two years ago the Bajoran Prophets had noticed a massive disruption in the space-time continuum. He was hoping against hope that there wasn’t a connection between the two.

“Lots of things happened twenty-two years ago,” he said, cringing a little at how desperate he sounded even to his own years. “The chances of this time disruption you’re talking about having anything to do with me are ridiculously small.”

The Prophet’s smile was sad and knowing. “It is always someone, Jim. This time it happens to be you.”

Jim ground his teeth together in frustration. “I’m sorry, but whatever it is you want me to do, I can’t. I told you: I’m looking for someone, and I’m not going to walk away from that.”

“We are not asking you to.” The Prophet walked over to Jim. It was strange: Lyassa’s body was so small and slight that she shouldn’t have felt intimidating at all, yet he couldn’t help but feel cowed beneath the Prophet’s steady, unrelenting gaze. “What we are offering is an exchange. We will help you find the one for whom you seek, In return, you will remember, and you will help her.”

“Her who? Bajor?” Jim blinked up at her in astonishment. “With all due respect, don’t you think that’s tall order for someone like me?”

“No,” said the Prophet simply. “I do not. It is part of your nature to help those in need.”

“Okay, okay.” Jim reached up to scrub at his eyes. This whole conversation was surreal. Maybe he’d taken a hallucinogenic somewhere along the line and this was all some kind of crazy trip. Might as well play along at this point. “What do I have to do?”

The Prophet touched Jim’s forehead, and he couldn’t suppress a shiver. It felt like an electric charge had shot all through his body, leaving him shaky and unbalanced in its wake. “There are many threats to your Federation, some more immediate than others. This disruption in the timestream that began twenty-two years ago is accelerating everything, however, and you must be ready. Bajor is the first line of defense for any incursion from the Gamma Quadrant, and she will need to be strong for you in order to avert much suffering.”

“I’m not in a position to advocate for any kind of military build-up,” Jim started to say, but the Prophet cut him off.

“All we ask is that you remember us, and do not let your Federation overlook us in the years to come. It is a very small thing we ask you to do.”

Jim thought of Bones. Thought of Bones’ smile and his laugh, his sarcastic sense of humor and his almost frighteningly keen intelligence. He thought about the way Bones looked when he was just waking up, the bright morning light streaming in through the window to paint streaks of gold in his dark hair, and how his smile would start out slow and sleepy, then get wide and brilliant when he saw Jim looking back at him.

There was no way he could turn down a chance to find Bones, no matter what he had to do in return. Some things were worth any price.

He took a deep breath and looked into the Prophet’s lavender eyes. “All right,” he said. “We have a deal. I’ll do anything I can to help Bajor, and you’ll help me find Bones. Agreed?”

The Prophet smiled, her hand sliding down to cup Jim’s cheek with cool fingers. “Agreed,” she said, and Jim felt it as an almost physical binding, something settling into his bones, a compact that could not be broken.

Then the Prophet stepped back, and the feeling was gone. “Now,” she said. “The first thing you must do is to adjust your heading. We have a long way to go, and it’s entirely in the opposite direction.”

“And where’s that?” asked Jim, already getting to his feet. Wherever it was, however long it took, he was willing to go. Now that he had a sense of direction, he was practically chomping at the bit. There was no time to waste.

The Prophet smiled. “We are going,” she said, calm and serene as one of the ancient Bodhisattvas, “to a planet known as the Land of the Drowned Twins.”

* * *

  
It took a solid three weeks to make the journey. Jim had expected that, of course - the Dream’ wasn’t one of those top of the line starships with fancy warp drives like they had in Starfleet, and they were going all the way to the Beta Quadrant - but it still grated at him. Now that he knew where his Bones was, knew that he did indeed have a destination, getting there was torture. It had almost been easier when he’d been bouncing around the whole damn solar system with no fixed end point. Then, at least, he’d been able to take comfort in the very act of searching.

“It is not getting there that is difficult,” the Prophet had taken to reminding him countless times over the past several days. “This is nothing but a straightforward journey through space. It is what you will do when you arrive that is important.”

Jim had gotten the picture that this wasn’t exactly going to be an in-and-out rescue operation. From what he’d been able to get out of the Prophet the Inannans - the natives of this mysterious Land of the Drowned Twins - were not going to make it easy for him. It seemed they had entered into some kind of contract with Leonard’s parents, something that involved his relationship with Leonard, and the Inannans were now honor-bound to see it through. That meant doing everything they could to make sure he and Leonard never even saw each other once Jim was planetside.

“It can’t be that difficult, though, can it?” Jim had asked incredulously the first time his guide decided to share that particular piece of information. “I mean, Bones knows me. He knows better than anyone, even if we met just a short time ago. There’s no way he wouldn’t want to come back home with me.”

The Prophet had shaken her head and looked at him with something that was dangerously close to pity. “They entered into a contract, and they will see it through. They do not play by your human rules of what is morally acceptable and what is not. It will not be a matter of persuading Leonard; it will be a matter of _reaching_ Leonard.”

Whatever that meant.

Still, any misgivings the Prophet’s words might have roused in him were wiped out the second Inanna-X015 finally appeared in the _Impossible Dream_ ’s viewing screen. It was such a tiny little planet, located all the way out here where hardly anyone would ever visit. He wondered how anyone had ever managed to find it in the first place - if it were back in the Alpha Quadrant it would have made a nice little vacation spot, but as things stood it was too far out for anyone to bother with.

Well. Almost too far out. It was apparently the perfect location for those who wanted to get involved in smuggling, or human trafficking, or just hiding people away from the ones who loved them.

“All right,” said Jim, looking out at the globe of swirling white clouds, green-blue oceans, and red landmasses. It really was a jewel of a world. Too bad he wasn’t coming here as a tourist. “You coming?”

The Prophet shook her head. “No,” she said. “My presence would draw too much attention. I will return this body for the time being. The girl knows what to do.” She closed her eyes and exhaled, long and slow. When she opened them it was Lyassa’s dark eyes looking back at him. The girl looked dazed, and a little lost.

“Lyassa,” said Jim, and reached out to grab her shoulder. “Hey. You’re back. Are you okay?”

Lyassa shook her head from side to side, looking for all the world like a wet dog shaking its coat. “It’s strange,” she said after a second. “I was fully aware of everything that was happening, but I had no control over my body. It was like being a puppet.” She shuddered with distaste, a shadow falling across her sharply defined features.

“I’m sorry.” Just like he’d thought: the Prophet hadn’t even thought to ask before jumping into the nearest available body. That was, in his humble opinion, pretty fucked up. Even if she had gotten him here.

Lyassa shrugged. “She’s going to help Bajor, though. That means a lot to me.” She frowned, considered. “Jim...” she said, then hesitated, staring down at her hands, fingers twisted together.

“Yeah?” he asked. He stepped back giving her some space. “Hey, it’s okay. Whatever it is, you can say it.”

Lyassa was silent for a moment longer, then she looked up at Jim. Her expression was fierce and intense, that of a woman who had found her purpose.

“I want you to help Bajor,” she said. “It’s my home planet, and I will always love her. But whatever you do, I want you to help _us._ ” She placed her hand over her heart. “I want you to remember the Imutta, and do whatever you can for us. We don’t -” she swallowed hard, like the words were difficult for her to give voice to after a lifetime of hearing that certain things could never be changed, then continued, “ - we don’t deserve to be treated like we’re lesser. We are no different than the other _d’jarra_. Remind them of that, when you’re called on to uphold your half of this bargain.”

It was a request Jim wouldn’t dream of refusing. He took Lyassa’s hands in his and squeezed hard, hoping she could feel the conviction in his touch. “I promise,” he said. “No matter what else happens, I won’t forget about everything you’ve suffered, and I’ll do my best to make things right.”

Lyassa smiled, and if there were tears in her eyes Jim didn’t mention it. “Thank you,” she said, soft and steady, like a burden had been lifted from her. “Thank you.” She squeezed Jim’s hands in return, then took a deep breath and looked out at the planet hovering before them.

“All right. Now let’s get down there and rescue your one true love.”

 _Interlude III_

 _Leonard laced his fingers with Jocelyn’s and smiled down at her. Every time he caught a glimpse of her smile, or the way her brown eyes would flash gold if the sun caught them just right, he couldn’t help but marvel at how lucky he was to have her. His parents had done a good thing sending him here. He’d thought it was ridiculously far, at first, especially when they knew how much he loathed space travel, but Jocelyn Darnell was worth any trial. She was his one true love, and he’d never give her up for anything._

 _“Sweetheart,” she murmured, her face crinkling up in a smile (it was just adorable how it did that), “you’re staring again.”_

 _“Can’t help it, darlin,’” he replied, leaning down to give her a quick kiss. “I’m just so amazed that the universe saw fit to give you to me. Have to keep checkin’ to make sure it’s real.”_

 _“Charmer,” retorted Jocelyn, but there was no heat to her words._

 _They would be married in just two weeks. Maybe by some people’s standards it was a bit sudden, but Leonard had never felt more sure of anything in his life. He loved Jocelyn; Jocelyn loved him. There was no need to wait. Besides, they both wanted to hold the ceremony here on Inanna-X015, the place where they’d found each other and fallen in love. It was going to be perfect._

 _And so what if sometimes, just sometimes, Leonard had strange and unsettling dreams in which it wasn’t Jocelyn’s body pressed up against his and it wasn’t Jocelyn’s voice whispering words of love and devotion in his ear? So what if every once in a while he woke up with tears glittering on his cheeks and a sense of inconsolable loss? They were just dreams. They didn’t mean anything._

 _He looked up at the beautiful Inannan mountain range that surrounded the resort the two of them were staying at, and pulled Jocelyn a little bit closer to his side. Only dreams, he reminded himself. He had everything he needed in the real world, and nothing was ever going to change that._

 _He tried to ignore the way the sunshine suddenly felt cold against his skin. He didn't really succeed._

 __

Chapter IV– Inanna-X015

Whatever else could be said about it, there was no doubt that Inanna-X015 was a beautiful world. That was obvious within fifteen minutes after landing and stepping off the _Dream_. It was obvious that this was still a wild world, or that its inhabitants had chosen to preserve it that way. The spaceport here wasn't surrounded by the skyscrapers and endless miles of vehicle traffic that characterized them on Earth, but was instead cradled by the high, rust-red mountains he'd seen from orbit. Jim took a deep lungful of the air: underneath the smell of warm metal and exhaust he thought he could detect something similar to pine. A bit spicier, maybe, but still pleasant.

Then again, Jim knew better than most how deceptive a beautiful, peaceful-looking planet could be. He'd thought Tarsus was about as close to Paradise as you could get when he'd first landed there, and look how that one turned out.

“It's nice,” said Lyassa doubtfully, turning in a circle. “Different from Bajor, anyway.”

“True enough.” Jim could see a group of tall, robed figures heading their way, and nudged Lyassa with his shoulder. “Look alert. The welcoming committee's here.”

As the Inannans came closer and Jim got his first clear look at them, he had to admit he kind of liked what he saw. Their carriage was erect and proud, and they moved gracefully, almost like they were floating, their long, loose clothing fluttering slightly in the breeze. Their skin was a bright, vibrant crimson that glittered like rubies in the sunshine, and their eyes were dark. Interesting hair, too, only it wasn't hair at all, more like thin, very flexible tentacles. The part of Jim's brain that couldn't quite seem to turn off inappropriate thoughts decided that there were all kinds of fun to be had with those, then immediately prayed that telepathy was not an Inannan trait.

If it was, they didn't give any indication of having perceived Jim's various inappropriate musings. The leader inclined her head in greeting and welcomed them to Inanna-X015 in a calm, polite, and decidedly bland tone.

“Thank you for your hospitality.” Jim offered up his best smile. “I’m Jim Kirk, and this is Lyassa Imutta. It looks like a lovely place you've got.”

“I am called Imarra. We have been told quite often that our planet is pleasant for off-worlders to visit.” The leader's eyes flickered over to the _Dream_ , standing alone at the corner of the landing field. “You say you needed to land here because of a failure in your engine?”

“Yes,” said Jim. “Yes, I did say that.”

“Excellent.” Imarra turned to one of her companions and said something too low for Jim to pick up on. He bowed and turned to depart, his robes fluttering in the breeze. The leader looked back at Jim. “Our engineers will set to work on your vessel immediately. You should be able to depart within a matter of hours.”

Jim looked back at her. He knew damn well the two of them were playing a game right now, with each one waiting to call the other's bluff. If he smiled and said thank you, they'd polish up the ship and send him off without him ever once stepping away from the spaceport. But if he told them he was looking for someone, he'd lose any chance at looking for Bones on his own terms – they'd probably just hide him someplace where Jim would never find him. It was a lose-lose situation, and Inannans were the ones holding the cards.

It was Lyassa who made the decision. While Jim just stood there trying to think of the best thing to say that might keep as many options open as possible, Lyassa stepped forward and said bluntly, “We're here to look for someone.”

It was kind of amazing, actually, and Jim would have given her a congratulatory backslap for finding the voice that Bajor had denied her if he hadn't been a little alarmed at the prospect of giving their game away so soon. He might even have been edging toward anger, only then she turned to look at him, and something in her face said, Trust me. Jim remembered the Prophet telling him that Lyassa knew what to do, and kept his mouth shut. He'd let this play out.

For just a second Jim saw a flicker of emotion in the Inannans' obsidian gazes, then there was nothing but polite disinterest. “Looking for someone?” said Imarra. “We have few visitors here, but I suppose one of them might know you. If you will tell us your names, we will send a message to our lodges.”

A message that Jim was ninety-nine percent sure would never be delivered. He’d opened his mouth to say so when Lyassa cut him off.

“We know what you are and what you do,” she said, and Jim could see the thunderclouds gathering in the Inannans’ faces. Lyassa didn't seem to care. “We know that you're holding Leonard McCoy here.” The thunderclouds were growing darker. Lyassa pressed on. “We also know that you follow your own honor code. Inannan law states that if someone is taken and held here, a claimant shall have two Inannan weeks to recover him or her.” She bowed from the waist, her long dark hair sweeping toward the earth. “We are here for our two weeks.”

Jim had no idea what she was talking about, but clearly her words had had an impact on the Inannans. The stalemate lasted about a minute. Then Imarra smiled, faint but real, and inclined her head. “We acknowledge your right,” she said. Jim couldn't detect any traces of anger or deception in her tone; if anything, she sounded almost amused. “You will have your two weeks, as you have requested.”

“Great,” said Jim. “Great. That's all we wanted.”

“It might be more difficult than you expect.” There was something crafty in the Inannan’s eyes, something that made him ill at ease. “And we will give you no more than the agreed upon time. If Leonard does not wish to return with you at the end of the two weeks, you forfeit your claim.”

Jim had managed to charm Bones in a single night when they first met; two weeks should be plenty of time. And if, for some horrible reason, Bones really did want to stay here... well, Jim wasn't a monster. He wasn't going to go dragging someone away from a life they'd chosen for themselves, even if it left him heartbroken. “All right,” said Jim in cautious agreement. “That sounds reasonable.”

“We are so glad you agree.” Imarra turned to go, her entourage with her. “Come, then. We will take you to the lodge.”

The Inannan contingency swept away from the spaceport without bothering to see if Lyassa and Jim were keeping up. It was a tactic Jim recognized: keep them feeling unimportant and like they were beneath notice, small insects not worth the trouble of acknowledging. Good thing he wasn't so easily intimidated, and Lyassa didn't seem to care.

“Are you sure about this?” Jim mutered to her as the Inannans ushered them into a small shuttle that would carry them, he hoped, to Bones. “Just giving ourselves away like that?”

Lyassa shrugged. “That's what the Prophet seems to think,” she said. “And I think she knows what she's about.” She looked at Jim and raised her eyebrows. “You're not having second thoughts, are you?”

“Of course not.” Jim settled into the seat and grinned. “I mean, here I am on a brand new world, having an adventure... what's not to love?”

The Inannans looked at him with blank expressions. Jim sighed and leaned back.

It was going to be a long ride.

* * *

  
The promise of beauty that the view from the spaceport had hinted at was further realized the closer they got to the lodges that formed the backbone of Inanna-X015's illicit retreat network. The area was completely inaccessible by paved roads (Jim had his own thoughts about that particular feature; he figured it was all a strategy to prevent any rescue operations), and the shuttle flight took them over those immense red mountains whose slopes were a striking patchwork of glittering white snow and the indigenous equivalent of pine trees. Every once in a while he caught a glimpse of an alpine lake glittering like a hidden jewel in the forest. Jim could see why it appealed to those who wanted to have a private getaway far from the political and social networks that dominated the elite of the Federation. It was too bad that those same qualities also made it a hub for illegal activity.

The longer they flew, the more anxious he became. One hour became two, became two-and-a-half. The mountains grew taller, and the western horizon glowed with the oranges and reds of sunset. The shuttle still didn't show any signs of slowing down.

“So, is this counting as the first day?” asked Jim when they finally hit the three-hour mark. “Because it shouldn't. I mean, it's already sunset and I haven't even been face-to-face with Bones – Leonard – yet.”

Imarra’s dark eyes glittered in the fading light. “We are very close now, and you will see him at dinner. Every day the two of are in each other's presence counts against the total.”

Jim raised his eyebrows. “C'mon, that doesn't seem fair at all.”

The Inannan shrugged. “If the two of you are as deeply in love as you seem to think, you shouldn't even need the full two weeks. A single evening should prove sufficient, wouldn't you say?”

Jim knew a lost cause when he saw one. He gritted his teeth and shut up.

When they arrived at what the Inannans told them was the Valley of Deep Dreaming, the first stars were coming out. They shone bright and distinctive against the velvet blue sky, and there were just a few hints of orange left in the West. All together it was a beautiful picture, promising peace and relaxation, an impression that was compounded by the lodge itself. It was partly carved out of the red rock of the mountain, and partly an immense honeycomb of glass and gold jutting out into the open space over the valley floor. Lights glimmered in each of the windows like stars come down to Earth, winking coyly through the glass. Even thought there were enough butterflies fluttering in his stomach to make him feel nauseous, Jim had to admit it was an impressive sight. He looked forward to finding out if the amenities matched the exterior, that was for sure.

Within fifteen minutes of docking he and Lyassa had been ushered to tastefully appointed suites that were more luxurious than anything either of them had ever had the privilege of setting foot in before. It was true that Inannan taste seemed to run on the simpler side – more traditional Japanese manor than Versailles – but everything was exquisitely made. The duvet on the sunken couch that served as a bed was dyed a deep crimson that reminded him of rubies, and was wonderfully soft to the touch, while the few pieces of furniture still retained the natural shapes and colors of the wood from which they had been carved. There was also a silvery pair of what Jim assumed were idols on the windowsill, a male and a female so tightly entwined that they looked more like a single, eight-limbed creature with its tentacles all twisted together than two individual beings. It was compelling, at least, and Jim spent a good minute contemplating it before turning to the clothing that had been laid out for him.

It was comfortable, if strange. He'd never really had the urge to dress in loose, flowing clothing that featured lots of folding and draping - too much material to get in the way - but that seemed to be the style here. The pants were easy enough to figure out – that basic piece of clothing seemed to be almost universal – but the robe that went over them was something else. It could have rivaled the toga for most impractically complex garment, and Jim wasted about a quarter of an hour figuring the damn thing out. By the time he was done someone was actually knocking at his door and asking if he was ready to be escorted to the dining room. Not exactly his finest moment, and judging from the way the Inannan made a few quick adjustments to the garment after he opened the door, that wasn't just paranoia.

Lyassa, of course, looked perfect.

“Even Imutta have to wear traditional garb on the great holy days,” she muttered as they followed their guide through the glass-encased corridors. “And believe me, those are much worse.”

Jim was trying to come up with some kind of clever retort when they arrived at the banquet hall doors, but he had to put all his energy toward not expiring from tension and impatience. Bones was just behind that door. He was finally going to see Bones after all these months of fruitless searching, and the two of them would leave this place and go back to the Dream. Then maybe they'd go back to Earth or maybe they'd just wander through space for a while. Sure, Bones hated space travel, but maybe he'd see this like a honeymoon; the honeymoon they'd never been able to have. It would be fun. Hell, it would be romantic.

The doors were flung open and Jim stepped inside, his eyes scanning the assembled guests for Bones' strong, familiar, beloved features. Most of the people seated at the long, amply heaped tables were Inannan, but there were a decent number of humans sprinkled throughout the ranks, and even a few – Romulans? Yes, Jim was sure they were Romulans, and the implications of _that_ were staggering. He shelved that bit of information to mull over later, after he found -

 _Bones. There._ There was his Bones, just as beautiful as he remembered, and Jim ached at the sight. He wanted to run the length of the room and kiss him, show everyone in the room just how well the two of them fit. He even took a few steps forward, the urge to be pressed up against his lover's body too strong to ignore after so long apart, when he noticed a single very important detail.

There was a woman sitting next to Bones. A beautiful woman, with long dark brown hair, honey colored skin, and eyes that reminded him of the way the sky looked just after the sun rose. She reminded him of the pictures of his mother from before the _Kelvin_ incident, and you'd have to be blind not to appreciate that. Under other circumstances, Jim would have fully appreciated the view.

But he couldn’t. Not now. Because this oh-so-beautiful woman was pressed up against Bones' side the way Jim should have been, and Bones seemed perfectly happy for her to do so. There was also the small detail that when their escort announced their names to the assembled diners, there was no recognition in Bones' eyes. Not a flicker. His gaze held nothing but polite curiosity in his gaze when he looked at Jim, none of the warmth that was there when he turned to his companion and whispered something in her ear. It was like he didn't know Jim at all.

Like they were strangers.

“Bones,” he said, so softly no one else could hear it, and wondered if this was what it felt like to have your heart broken. It certainly felt like his chest was being ripped in half.

Lyassa, steadfast Lyassa who was so much stronger than he, wrapped her fingers around his wrist and tugged him forward. “Come on,” she said. “You knew this wasn't going to be straightforward, and you won't get anything done if you don't at least talk to him. So let's go.”

As Jim followed her toward the empty space at Bones' table, he caught Imarra’s eye. She was watching him with thinly veiled satisfaction, and the look in her eyes seemed to say, _You see? This will not be as easy as you thought. It is better to give up now._ It was a taunt, plain and simple, and that was enough to make Jim square his shoulders and raise his head. He hadn't come all this way to go running at the first sign of trouble. He'd see this through to the bitter end. He nodded in acknowledgement of the Inannan's unspoken challenge, then sat down opposite Bones and his apparent lady-love.

Bones smiled at him, but it wasn't the smile that he'd been wanting. It wasn't the smile that said, _Jim_ and, I love you. It was just a polite opening gambit between strangers. Jim did his best to return the gesture in spite of the iron bands around his chest that were making it difficult to breathe.

“Hi there,” said Bones, his Southern drawl out in full force. “This your first time on Inanna?”

“Yeah,” said Jim, and to him his voice sounded as though he'd just swallowed a mouthful of broken glass. He reached for the wine goblet in front of him and gulped at the dark, purplish liquid. It went down smooth, with the barest hint of sweetness, but as soon as he put the glass down he could feel his head start to swim. He'd have to be careful with that stuff.

“Yes,” he tried again, and that was better, much better; he didn't sound as wretched. “We just arrived. It's great.”

“Oh, isn't it?” It figured that Bones' dining companion would have a beautiful smile, all perfect white teeth and dimples. “Leonard and I are on an extended holiday. We met here just by chance, and hit it off so well that we decided to stay a little longer to get to know each other better.”

“Are you...?” asked Bones, his eyes flickering from Jim to Lyassa and back again, and Jim felt his cheeks grow hot. There wasn't much of an age difference between him and Lyassa, not really, but he could imagine how unlikely of a couple they looked to be. There was him with his blonde hair and strong, muscled frame developed from a few years' worth of manual labor in the American Midwest; then Lyassa with her slight frame and haunted dark eyes. They were no fairytale couple, like Bones and this depressingly beautiful woman.

“We're travel companions,” said Lyassa coolly, stabbing her fork into something that vaguely resembled calamari. “We met on Bajor.”

“Oh, Bajor, of course.” The woman's hand fluttered upward to brush against the unmarked skin of her nose, right where Lyassa bore the distinctive ridges of her people. “I'm afraid I don't know that much about it, but I'm sure it's lovely...”

She was nervous, Jim realized. _Someone must have told her who we are and why we're here, and that's got her worried_. Jim leaned back in his chair and watched her for a minute, taking note of the way that oh-so-lovely smile of hers didn't quite reach her eyes, or the way she couldn't quite manage to sit still. _She's in on this._

“My apologies,” said Bones, cutting into the conversation with one of his full-on blinding grins. “I don't believe we even bothered to introduce ourselves. I'm Leonard McCoy from Georgia, and this here is Miss Jocelyn Darnell.”

“Jim Kirk,” said Jim, and for one split second Bones was _there._ Leonard's happy, carefree and in-love-with-the-woman next to him facade dropped, just for an instant, and it was Bones looking back at Jim with something like desperation.

“Jim?” he asked, tentative and slow, like someone waking up from a dream. “I knew a Jim once, I think.” He frowned. “I think we were friends, maybe. Or colleagues? Seems like we meant a lot to each other.”

Jim tried to smile, but he knew it is was a half-hearted effort at best. “Funny. I used to know a Leonard.” He leaned forward, wanting to touch Bones, hoping that skin-to-skin contact might help him remember something. He'd spent so many hours mapping the geography of Bones' skin: fingers tracing over the tiny moles on his back and dipping into the hollow of his hipbones, lips tracing the sharp ridges of his shoulder blades, curling his fist around Bones' cock while he arched up in pleasure...that couldn't have just been wiped away. There had been too much emotion invested in each touch for it to be lost completely.

Jocelyn leaned forward and twined her fingers with Bones'. It was the same sort of loving, innocuous gesture Jim had seen so many couples do so many times, but he didn't miss the look in Jocelyn's eyes when she glanced at him: a mixture of anger, defiance, and warning. That right there was enough to confirm that she knew damn well who he was and why he was here, and to warm him that she was going to fight him every inch of the way.

Well, that was all right. If there was one thing Jim knew how to do, it was fight. He'd been fighting against the world when he was a kid, angry and rebellious at a mother who never quite seemed to have the tim for him and an uncle who had been all too clear about what he thought of children. On Tarsus he'd been literally fighting for his life. Since then he'd taken every day as its own battle, him against the world and all the expectations so many people wanted to heap on him. He could handle this, no problem.

Jim took raised his glass and tipped it toward the couple, but his eyes were on Jocelyn.

“It's so nice to meet you,” he said, and took a sip of the heady liquor.

Game on.

* * *

Lyassa Imutta was not Jim Kirk. She had no previous connection to Leonard McCoy, and had not come thousands upon thousands of light-years to reclaim him. More than that, she was Imutta, and while she had always maintained a healthy disgust for the _d’jarra_ system there were times when her background came in handy All she had to do was look at Jim to realize that. he was brave, certainly, and did not lack for charm and charisma, but he was going about this all wrong. They’d been on Inanna-X015 for three days and he’d just been throwing himself at Leonard, blatant and obvious, when he should have been taking the time to sit back and observe.

Oh, he was smart enough. It was obvious that he knew Leonard’s memories hadn’t been completely suppressed, and that Leonard was off-balance and uncertain in his presence, but he didn’t know how to use that to his advantage. He was pushing when he should have been standing still. Leonard was intelligent. He would come and investigate Jim on his own, when he wanted to. But he didn’t want to be forced into it, and all Jim’s heavy-handed wooing was accomplishing was reinforcing Leonard’s current perception of Jocelyn as _safe_.

Lyassa, though - Lyassa was Imutta. She knew how to be quiet and watch. It was what her caste did, after all - they might have been seen as the lowest of the low, but they also knew that those who were seen as invisible were in a position to see and overhear much. They knew how to blend into the background, and when they should step forward. It was a gift that she called on now. Jim had given her his word that he would not forget Bajor in the years to come; she would help him now. She knew what was at stake here, even more than Jim did.

It had been strange, being possessed by the Prophet. She’d been aware of everything, her ability to see and hear completely intact, but she’d had no control over her body - her limbs moved and her lungs expanded, but those actions were not hers to command. It had been terrifying at first, to be nothing but a passenger in the flesh she’d inhabited since birth, but after a while she’d relaxed into it. She’d accepted the possession, and she had learned much.

She had seen the way the strands of time were being twisted and rearranged, beginning with what the UFP referred to as the _Kelvin_ Incident. She saw the Romulan threat that had materialized in its wake, and how it would return greater than before, threatening the very heart of what had become one of the galaxy’s centers of hope and democracy. She saw Jim, and how he stood at the very center of the chaotic swirl of events that would determine the future’s course. Even more than that, she saw Leonard. _Bones_ , Jim called him. She saw how the bond between them was vital to the preservation of Earth, how being in the right place at the right time all depended on the trust and love that existed between the two of them. If Jim was not there at the precisely the correct moment, the consequences would be catastrophic.

There was also Bajor, her home no matter how much she might disagree with the _d’jarra_ system to which it had clung for so long. There was a threat approaching her homeworld, not now but in the future ( _but perhaps sooner,_ the Prophet had whispered, _much sooner if the Federation falls_ ), and it was devastating in scope. It descended on peaceful, undefended Bajor and swallowed it whole. That was the way time had once been written, but everything was new now. The future was in flux, and if she helped Jim now, he would help Bajor. He would make sure her world was not undefended when the enemy came, and he would help even her kind, the Imutta. He would help her free her brothers and sisters who had been born into servitude.

The catch was that all of this was somehow dependent on Jim getting his lover back, and so Lyassa played the tourist. She visited the beautiful gardens that surrounded the resort, went to the little cocktail parties where the guests gathered to eat elaborate finger foods and discuss everything from the latest activities of the Orion Syndicate to what the latest Presidential election of the UFP indicated about trade relations with the Beta Quadrant powers. All fascinating topics for some people; they didn’t hold much interest for her, but she knew how to smile and play along. She knew how to make herself innocuous enough that people would start rambling at her, letting things slip that they might not otherwise. She knew that one of the easiest ways to glean information was to be as uninteresting and forgettable as possible, and she played that role to the hilt - the wide-eyed girl from Bajor who had been swept off on a grand adventure and had no idea what to do now.

It worked like a charm on one Jocelyn Darnell.

“Len’s parents told me all about Jim Kirk,” said Jocelyn one lazy afternoon after seven of their fourteen days had passed. “They told me about how wild he is. He’s no good for someone like Len. You understand that, don’t you?” Her blue eyes were pleading. “Leonard is brilliant. He needs someone who can support and encourage that, and Jim Kirk is not that person.”

Lyassa took another pastry and bit into it. It was rich and spicy, better than anything she’d been able to scrounge on Bajor. She took her time enjoying the flavor before replying.

“Did you know him on Earth?” she asked. “Or did you meet him here?”

“I met him here, but our families have had an understanding with each other for generations.” She smiled and tilted her head to the side: _you know how it is_. “It’s the way things are done in the South, I suppose. Everyone knows each other, and looks out for each other.”

 _The same way the elite Bajoran families look out for each other, no doubt._ Lyassa kept her smile in place, bland and unassuming. “Do you love him?”

This time Jocelyn was the one to stop a passing waiter and take a delicate crystal flute holding a liqueur the color of the sky at sunset. A diversion. Lyassa watched closely as she sipped the drink, the muscles of her throat moving, and tried to look as non-threatening and sympathetic as possible. It wasn’t very difficult.

“Where I’m from,” said Jocelyn finally, “love means a lot of different things. One of them is duty. It’s my duty to my family to do this. Leonard’s father was my grandfather’s doctor, you see, and he saved his life.” Her eyes grew bright, and she ducked her head to blink back tears. Lyassa pretended not to notice. “There’s a debt of honor between the Darnells and the McCoys, and this is the easiest way to repay it. A Darnell daughter and a McCoy son.”

Such marriages were not uncommon on Bajor, but in talking to Jim Lyassa had gotten the impression that Earth had moved beyond such things. “I thought it was common practice on your world to marry for love?”

“Oh, it is, but every once in a while there are other things to consider. This is one of those times. And it isn’t all bad, really. Like I said, Leonard is handsome and intelligent. I like being with him. Love will come.” Jocelyn smiled, and there was no fear or uncertainty in her expression. She wasn’t some sacrificial beast being led to the altar of this marriage; she came to it willingly.

Lyassa chose her next words carefully. “Are you sure?” she said, and when Jocelyn’s lips parted in reproach, she rushed on, letting her eyes grow wide with alarmed concern and her voice grow higher in pitch. “I don’t mean any disrespect. It’s just that marriages meant to seal alliances between families are so common on Bajor, and I’ve seen so many of them go wrong. There was one woman in Jalandra, she was married off when she was only fifteen, and her husband -”

Jocelyn rested her hand gently on Lyassa’s forearm. “It’s all right.” Her expression was all reassurance. “That’s the beauty of Inanna, you see. It can make all things possible, even love.”

And this was the moment. Lyassa looked up at Jocelyn shyly, like she hardly dared to speak what was on her mind. “So you think...” Lyassa swallowed hard, playing up her part as a provincial girl who wanted something desperately but could barely bring herself to hope. “...you think Jim could love me?”

Anyone who had seen the two of them on the journey here would know it was ludicrous. She and Jim might not have had much time together before she was possessed by the Prophet, but it had been enough for her to know that his heart belonged to his Leonard, and for him to know that her dreams were not chained to anyone but herself. The two of them could never have worked, and neither of them had any desire to try. It made for a romantic story, however, and Jocelyn Darnell was certainly _romantic_.

“You want Jim?” asked Jocelyn, leaning forward like they were two schoolgirls sharing secrets. “He’s handsome enough, I suppose, even if he’s not what I’d consider marriage material.” She paused for a moment, her gaze thoughtful as it rested on Lyassa. Lyassa could easily guess what she was thinking: _If I put this girl in front of Jim, maybe he will forget Leonard. Maybe he will leave Leonard to me._

There wasn’t a chance of that happening, of course, but Jocelyn didn’t seem to realize that. Lyassa put on her most guileless, eager smile. “You think I have a chance?”

“More than a chance.” Jocelyn twined her arm around Lyassa’s and drew her off to the side, away from the gaggle of party-goers. “You’re a nice girl, Lyassa. Listen to me.” She looked over at the other guests, biting her lip. “Everyone who comes here has a purpose, but not everyone knows Inanna’s secrets. Most of the people you see around here are smugglers, or political exiles of some sort, but that’s only the surface of what this place can provide.”

“Oh?” Lyassa widened her eyes in feigned confusion. “What else is there?”

Jocelyn’s hand closed around Lyassa’s forearm, tight and urgent. “There’s a plant that grows here on Inanna,” she said, her voice pitched so that only they could hear it. “Some kind of herb, I don’t know exactly. The point is that it makes you very suggestible. You give someone the drug, and you can write whatever you want on their mind.”

It wasn’t difficult to put two-and-two together. “You and Leonard...?” asked Lyassa, letting her voice trail off in question. It would make perfect sense.

Jocelyn’s cheeks flushed, but to her credit, she didn’t look away. “Leonard is a good man,” she said. “I deserve him, the same way he deserves a partner who can stand beside him and make him proud. And if this is the only way we get to have that...” She smiled a tiny smile and shrugged, as if trying to dismiss the whole mess. “We do what we have to, don’t we?”

“Yes,” said Lyassa. “We do.”

* * *

Jim felt like he was constantly hitting his head against a brick wall.

His time was over halfway gone by now, and he was no closer to getting Bones back than he’d been at the beginning. It had been clear that something about Jim made the amnesiac Leonard uncomfortable, and he’d scrupulous about making sure that the two of them were never alone together as a result. He was always using Jocelyn or even Lyassa as a buffer. It was driving Jim crazy. Jim was sure his Bones was buried somewhere beneath Leonard’s prim and proper exterior, but there was no way to reach him. Not while he remained so isolated.

So Jim fell back on his favorite unhealthy but satisfying coping mechanism: drinking.

He’d made his way through most of a bottle of the ubiquitous liquor that was served at every Inannan dinner event when the door to his room swung abruptly open. Jim cursed and reached up to try and shove the bottle behind one of the couch cushions. It wouldn’t do to look like a lush in the depths of despair, not when he was supposed to be brimming with confidence over the imminent retrieval of his lost love.

Judging from Lyassa’s raised eyebrow, he didn’t succeed.

“Lyassa,” he said, already wondering what he could say to excuse his admittedly disheveled appearance, but she waved his words aside.

“Jim,” she said, intent and focused, “I’ve figured out a way for you to reach your Bones.”

Jim breath caught in his throat, and everything else was forgotten. He leaned forward, focused and intent. “Tell me.”

Lyassa did.

It was simple, of course. An old-fashioned love potion. There was a flower on Inanna that bloomed once every fifteen years, a beautiful flower whose petals were the exact color of the sky at sunset and whose stamens glowed like rubies in the sunlight. Its essence had some sort of neurological effect - _Jim_ couldn’t follow the specifics, but he was sure _Bones_ could have, brilliant doctor that he was - that caused a form of mild amnesia. In and of itself it wasn’t particularly serious, but when combined with the brainwashing techniques the Inannans had perfected over the course of centuries it was something to be reckoned with.

“They’re suppressing his memories of you,” said Lyassa. “Which we’d already guessed, of course, but the good news is that it’s not a fundamental change. His memories of you are still intact; they’ve just been pushed down deep enough that he can’t consciously access them.”

Jim nodded slowly. “Yeah, okay. But we still have the problem of getting him to access them. If I just had more _time_ -” Jim clenched his fists in frustration. Time was the problem. If he had a month instead of fourteen days, he’d be able to reach Bones. He was sure of it. The thing was, he _didn’t_. He didn’t, and he was watching any chance he had slipping through his fingers faster and faster -

“There’s a loophole,” said Lyassa, cool and collected as ever. It was amazing, really, how she managed to keep it together like that. Probably a survival instinct she’d picked up on Bajor. Maybe she’d give Jim lessons in it, once all this was over.

“A workaround?” he asked, trying to force back the stupor the alcohol had sent him into. He should’ve known better than to let himself drink to this extent. It never ended well, and he _needed_ to be alert for this. “That’s good, right?”

“Obviously.” Lyassa rolled her eyes. “The Prophet is going to take me again, for a little while.”

“Great.”

“Try to tone down your enthusiasm.” Lyassa reached for the liquer bottle and emptied the last of its contents into a glass, then lifted it to her mouth for a sip. She grimaced. “How can you drink so much of this? It tastes awful.”

Jim scowled. “Let’s talk about my numerous shortcomings later. Right now we’re talking about Bones.”

“So we are.” Lyassa closed her eyes and took a deep breath. When she opened them, it was the Prophet looking back at him with her unnatural violet eyes.

“The way to your Bones is through dreams,” said the Prophet. “He cannot access his true self while he is awake; the drug and the conditioning prevents that. You are still a part of his mind, however, and I can bring you to him. It won’t be for very long, but it’s something.”

“So what, shared dreaming?” Jim couldn’t keep the skepticism out of his voice. “Is that even real?”

“Very much so.” The Prophet leaned forward and brushed Jim’s eyelids closed, her touch gentle and cool. “Now go to sleep.”

Jim fell back on the couch cushions as his mind slipped inexorably toward toward unconsciousness.

* * *

  
 _He was back in Iowa. He was back in Iowa, on a warm summer afternoon, and it was beautiful._

 _“I remember this,” he said to himself, turning in a circle to take in the green heads of ripening corn swaying gently in the breeze. “This is from our first summer together, right after we met.”_

 _“We used to drive for hours,” agreed Bones, stepping forward to pull Jim into a rough hug. “Hey,” he said, his breath warm against Jim’s ear. “I’ve missed you.”_

 _It was Bones, his Bones. Jim would know him anywhere. He pressed his face into the curve of Bones’ shoulder and breathed deep, practically drowning in the familiar smell of sunshine, grass, and whiskey. His favorite smell in the world, and he’d been without it for far too long._

 _“Miss you too,” he said, his voice scarcely more than a whisper, but Bones’ arms tightened around him and Jim knew the other man had heard._

 _It felt like forever and no time at all when they pulled apart. Jim was staring at Bones like a starving man looking in at a bakery display; Bones kept brushing his fingers through Jim’s hair. The connection between the two of them was pure and strong, the same it had been before Bones vanished into thin air._

 _There was a crease between Bones’ eyes, the beginning of a frown. “Jim?” he asked, hesitant and confused. “How come everythin’ feels so wrong?”_

 _Jim’s gripped Bones’ arms and stared into his eyes, focused and intent. “It’s because you’re drugged.”_

 _“Drugged?” Bones shook his head in confusion. “How’s that possible, Jim? I wouldn’t…” His voice trailed off and his eyes narrowed, the same look he got when he was puzzling something out. The landscape around them was quiet and still. Waiting. “I can almost remember. Almost, but not quite.”_

 _Jim held his breath. He didn’t want to rush things, but he wanted so badly for Bones to remember. If Bones remembered, the way forward was mostly clear._

 _“We’re not on Earth, are we?” asked Bones finally, and Jim let out his breath in a rush._

 _“No,” he said. “We’re not. Your parents did something, sent you to this place to marry some girl -”_

 _“I’m engaged?” interrupted Bones, his eyebrows shooting skyward. “Really?”_

 _“The two of you are very much in love.” Jim laughed, but it was a harsh, bitter sound. “Or so it appears.”_

 _Bones was quiet, but his thumbs stroking the skin of Jim’s neck were gentle. “Appearances can lie. You know that.”_

 _“Yeah.” Jim sighed. “But it still hurts.”_

 _“I suppose it would. We’re here together now, though, right?” Bones’ hands rested heavy on Jim’s shoulders. “And why is that, exactly?”_

 _“Someone’s doing us a favor.” Jim could feel the world around them tilting and shifting: a reminder that they had limited time. “The drug is suppressing your memories, but it didn’t delete them. They’re there if you’ll just look.” The scenery was starting to blur: Jim didn’t waste any more time, just reached up and pulled Bones down into one more kiss, doing his best to make sure it was a memorable one. If Bones’ glazed expression when he pulled away was anything to go by, he’d probably succeeded._

 _“Come back to me,” said Jim, and everything dissolved._

* * *

If he’d expected one shared dream to magically fix everything, he’d been wrong. He didn’t see Leonard at all for the next few days, no matter how hard he looked, and even seeing Jocelyn alone at dinner with a pinched, unhappy expression didn’t give him any satisfaction. All he could think about was his time trickling away, faster and faster, and how he didn’t seem any closer to getting Bones back than when they first landed.

It seemed hopeless. And although Jim had never been one for giving into despair, but dammed if this didn’t seem like a good time for it.

Lyassa wasn’t being very helpful, either. Every time Jim tried to ask her about the dreaming and why it hadn’t worked, she’d just shrug.

“These things aren’t exact,” she’d said. “Leonard has to make this happen for himself. All we can do is put him on the right path.”

Which made sense, and Jim knew it, but that didn’t mean he had to like it.

On their last night, however, everything changed.

The Inannans had opted to hold a banquet of some kind - they said it was some kind of traditional holy day on their calendar, but Jim was fairly certain it was their way of rubbing his face in his failure before kicking him off their planet. Dinner was always a production in this place - multiple courses, all of which required different utensils to eat, and enough alcohol to make your head spin - but this one was even more extravagant than usual. Jim was actually starting to feel a little sick from all the rich food and drink. The drink in particular. He should probably have been a bit more careful about the spectacle he was undoubtedly making, what with flailing around in a near-drunken stupor, but he just couldn’t bring himself to care.

It didn’t matter how much he drank, however, because he could still feel Imara’s dark, scornful look brushing against his skin, even from across the room. She’d known he would fail at this. Bitch.

And then there was Leonard, three seats down but doing his best to ignore Jim completely, and that -- that right there hurt like hell.

By the time the evening ended his head was spinning and it was all he could do to make his way back to his room. He collapsed onto the soft pillows of the bed and closed his eyes, feeling the world spin around him. He felt tired and heavy, weighted down with exhaustion and sadness. He’d worked so hard to get here, spent two years of his life trying to track down his lost lover, and now that he’d finally found him...

...Bones didn’t want him.

He didn’t let himself cry, though. He wasn’t going to let himself cry. He was Jim Kirk, and he’d get through this if it was the last thing he did.

He wasn’t sure how long he’d been drifting through the muddle of his thoughts when he heard a knock on the door. It took a second for him to process it, and then he was on his feet and flying across the room, certainty pulsing through his veins. He’d been around the block enough times to know when his instincts were correct, and right now he knew beyond a shadow of doubt that Bones had come back to him.

Even so, it still took his breath away to see his one-time lover on the other side of the door, his dark hair mussed and shadows under his eyes. Hope thudded painfully in the space under Jim’s ribs, and at first all he could do was stare.

Bones was the one to break the standoff. “Jim,” he said, and swallowed hard. “I -” he looked away, shy and uncertain in a way Bones had never been. “I remember. I remember Earth, and everything that happened between us there.”

“Things didn’t just ‘happen between us,’” said Jim. “What we had was real. It still is, if you want it to be.”

“If I want.” Bones’ eyes went dark, the way they used to when it was just the two of them, alone together for a stolen weekend. “Jim, believe me. I _want._ ”

Jim hesitated, just for a second. “Wait, wait.” He rested his hands on Bones’ shoulders and tried to steady himself. “What do you remember?”

Bones seemed to freeze up, then growled, “Doesn’t matter,” and then his mouth was fastened over Jim’s.

It occurred to Jim that this might be one of those times when they should sit down and actually talk about what was going on. You didn’t go from not speaking to having acrobatic sex in the space of five minutes, except for when you apparently did. And really, it was impossible to form a coherent sentence when he could feel Bones’ hands sliding up under his shirt to play with his nipples, just the way Jim liked it, and as soon as the clothes came off -

Well. Bones had always been very inventive.

It wasn’t until later, when the two of them were sprawled out on Jim’s bed with their limbs entwined and close enough to share each other’s breath, that Jim dared to ask.

“What changed your mind?” he murmured, and Bones ran his fingers lightly up Jim’s arm.

“I didn’t realize it until you came here,” he said, so soft that Jim had to strain to hear him, “but thing is, this whole time on Inanna I’ve felt like I was asleep. I didn’t feel anything, not the way I do when I’m with you. It was like I was wrapped in cotton or somethin.’”

Jim closed his eyes and took a deep breath, fighting for composure. “I was lost without you,” he confessed. “I don’t know what I would have done.”

Bones held him close until he finally succumbed to sleep.

* * *

When Jim woke up the bed was empty and the sheets had already gone cold. Bones must have left a long time ago already, stolen away while Jim was still dead to the world. The thought of that made something in Jim's chest ache. Once upon a time Bones had loved to kiss him awake, and then the two of them would stay in bed making out until the last possible second. Now, however, he crept away like what they'd shared was something sordid, something to be ashamed of.

Because no matter what they’d said to each other last night, no matter how much it had seemed like Bones was coming back to him -

\- he wasn’t. Inanna’s grip was too tight.

It was probably an hour or so before dawn, and the light had that gray, dreamlike quality to it. When Jim went to the window he looked down at a sea of fog roiling across the valley floor with the red slopes of the mountains rising up out of it like ancient seafaring vessels. It was beautiful, in a mournful sort of way. Jim had never seen anything like back in the Great Plains or on any of the other worlds he'd dropped in on, and under better circumstances he might have been able to appreciate the sight.

As things stood right now, however, all he could think about was that this was his last day, and he'd failed. He hadn't been able to get Bones back. He'd failed.

The room felt too small for him all of a sudden. His breath started to come faster and his skin itched. Jim needed to get out and run, push his body until his thoughts stopped swirling around his head and he could regain some sense of equilibrium. He just couldn't stand here and look down at a sea of regret. He'd go crazy.

The hallways were deserted this early in the morning, and Jim slipped out with no one the wiser. The air had enough chill to it that it made him shiver, but it felt good as soon as he started moving. He ran easily, letting the rhythmic movement of his arms and legs soothe him as he traversed the terrain. The paths were clearly delineated, smooth and easy, and after a few minutes he lost himself in the sound of his feet against the Earth and his breath pushing through his lungs. He didn't pay any attention to where he was going – he knew he was going upward, ever upward, but nothing more detailed than that – until the sky seemed to suddenly open up before him and he realized he was standing at the edge of a deep valley.

There were many things on Inanna-X015 that were beautiful. Jim had realized that within minutes of his arrival, and he could fully appreciate the planet's natural splendor. This valley, though – this was something above and beyond. It was perfection. The red mountains created an oval encompassing a lake whose waters were a perfect mirror of the surrounding vista. Two peaks, one at each end, seemed to serve as sentinels guarding the peaceful haven below, ready to unleash their wrath down on anyone who dared to disturb it. Jim had never been one for religion, had never bothered with placing his faith in some deity he couldn't see, but when he looked down at the scene below him, there was a part of his mind that whispered, holy.

He looked to his left, further down the footworn path he'd been following, and caught his breath. Bones was standing about twenty feet away from him, his eyes fixed on the scene below. As if he could feel the heat of Jim's gaze he looked up, and their eyes caught and held.

Bones was the one who moved first, taking a few tentative steps forward, and then Jim rushed to meet him. Their hands clasped when they were in the midpoint of the valley, directly between the two guardian peaks. The sun was just rising, its rays dancing behind the eastern mountain, while the moon was just setting in the west. All around them, the world seemed to be holding its breath.

“Bones,” said Jim. “Leonard. I wasn't sure I'd ever see you again.”

Bones closed his eyes and his fingers tightened on Jim's just a little. “I wasn't sure I'd want to. But...” he opened his eyes and looked at Jim, and Jim ached to see the heartfelt loss and confusion there. “But you've changed everything,” confessed Bones. “Sure, I'd felt something was off even before you showed up here, but I just didn't think I cared. I thought I could really make things work with Jocelyn.” He swallowed hard, Adam's apple bobbing. “But I don't think I can do it anymore.”

“That's okay,” said Jim. “It’s good. Your mind is adjusting back to where it should be.”

“But it felt so _real_ ,” said Bones, his voice thick with frustration. “I really, truly believed that I loved her. I was ready to marry her. And maybe it was all some kind of fabrication, but that doesn't mean I don't want it to be true.”

Jim's heart thumped painfully in his chest. He didn't want to hear Bones say that he wanted to stay with Jocelyn, even knowing that the love they shared was an illusion. But he also knew that he couldn't force the issue. Bones had to choose to recover his true memories and stay with Jim; otherwise it wouldn't mean anything.

The sun and moon were perfectly balanced on their respective peaks: one on each side of the valley. Their reflections shimmered in the water below: beautiful, but nothing more than a watery mirage. Jim reached up and pressed his hand against Bones' cheek, gently urging him to look down at the view.

“Look,” he said. “They're both beautiful, right? But only one of them is real. You have to decide if you want reality, or if a reflection is enough.”

Bones was silent. The sun continued to rise; the moon slipped behind the mountain. The moment when the Drowned Twins existed poised in harmony passed. Jim stepped back.

“Think about it,” he said. “Just...think about it. And let me know.”

Walking away was one of the hardest things he'd ever done. But walk away he did.

* * *

  
Jim spent the rest of the day in a daze. He didn't see Bones at all, and didn't bother looking for him. He opted to spend his time holed up in his room waiting for his last hours on Inanna-X015 to run out, hoping against hope that there would be a knock on his door.

It was nearly sunset when he finally gave up and headed toward the shuttle bay. There was no use pretending that Bones was going to come to him, tell him that he chose Jim and everything the two of them had once shared. Bones would rather live in some fantasy land with his perfect, pretty Jocelyn and his parentally-approved career at some large research hospital. Whatever Jim had been to him, whatever they had had, no longer held any appeal.

“It's all right,” said Lyassa, her long, slender fingers reaching out to brush against the back of Jim's hand. “You did what you had to, but the choice always needed to be his.”

“I know.” Jim swallowed hard against the tide of bitterness that threatened to choke him. “I still wish things were different.”

Lyassa didn't answer in words, but she caught Jim's hand in a brief squeeze.

Imara was there to meet them at the shuttle bay entrance. She looked almost exactly as she had two weeks ago when they'd first met her at the spaceport, dressed in her dark robes with her tentacles braided neatly down her back. When Jim locked eyes with her, she smiled and inclined her head in what looked like a bow, as though Jim had won something other than disappointment.

“Bet you're glad to see me fail, huh?” he asked, heartsick and angry.

Imara just smiled and stepped aside. Biting back all the vitriol he wanted to throw in her face, Jim pushed past her and stepped into the bay.

Bones was there.

Bones was there, with a small bag of at his feet and dark shadows under his eyes. He looked disheveled and more than a little wild, but for the first time since landing on Inanna, Jim could see his Bones looking back at him. Heart thumping painfully in his chest and hardly daring to believe what was in front of him, Jim stepped forward.

“Bones?” he asked, and if his voice cracked that was no one's business but his own.

“Jim,” answered Bones, stepping forward in turn. There was no trace of uncertainty in his voice, and his eyes were clear. “Jim. I remember you. I remember everything, and I want you to know that I choose you. I choose us.” He extended his hand, palm up in invitation. “So, if you'll have me -”

Jim didn't even give him a chance to finish his sentence. He was already grabbing Bones and pulling him in, angling his lips he could kiss Bones' words away. It wasn't like he needed to hear them. He'd felt the connection snap back into place between them, strong and soul-deep, the way it should be.

“There was never a question of whether I'd have you,” said Jim when they surfaced for air. “The answer's yes. Of course it's yes. It's always been yes.”

Bones smiled, bright and open, and pulled Jim back in for another kiss. “Thank you for coming for me,” he murmured. “For not giving up.”

Jim laughed and knocked his forehead gently against his lover's. “I'll always come for you,” he said. “Always.”

 _Epilogue - San Francisco 2255_

“So what happened to the agoraphobia?”

Bones grumbled under his breath and turned to glare at Jim. “Couldn’t let you do this alone, now could I? If your damn fool ass is enlisting, then so am I. Someone’s got to watch your back.”

Jim laughed and reached down to twine their fingers together as they crossed the green swath of the main quadrant of the Starfleet Academy grounds. He could see Captain Pike off in the distance, and tossed him a jaunty one-handed salute. “I have to say, I’m glad you’re with me. I don’t think I’d have nearly as much fun if I were alone.”

Bones’ hand grew tight around his wrist and he pulled Jim flush against his body with a low growl. “Never gonna be alone again,” he said, and then he kissed Jim right there on the quad to the sound of the occasional catcall from a passing cadet.

When they pulled away Jim laughed and broke into a run. For the first time in a long time, he felt optimistic about the future. Like they were going to make it.

And Lyassa would, too.

She hadn’t signed on with Starfleet, but she wasn’t returning to Bajor, either. She’d actually taken the opportunity to go to Vulcan, the first Bajoran ever to do so, on some sort of cultural ambassadorship. Bajor was an ancient civilization, after all, and the Vulcan High Council was eager to speak with her. She wanted to speak with them, too - she’d said something about wanting to make sure Bajor had as many allies as possible in the coming years.

Jim remembered the promise he had made, that he wouldn’t forget Bajor, and shivered for just a second. There were things looming on the horizon, events that were great and terrible and beyond his control. His father had been killed by one such occurrence, out there in the blackness of space. There were no guarantees that he wasn’t headed for the same fate.

His hand tightened on Bones’ and he stood a little straighter. It didn’t matter. He’d already seen the worst thing that could happen - a world where Bones didn’t know him - and nothing could be worse than that.

Bones squeezed back, and Jim smiled. No matter what the future might bring, he had Bones. He had Bones, and they were together. They’d proven themselves once already, and after that -

Well. Bring it on.

 _Vulcan Space_

The Vulcans had offered to transport her to their home planet, of course, but Lyassa had refused. She’d wanted to take the _Dream,_ that worn-down but sturdy ship that had first carried her to her freedom, and the ambassador had been to polite to press the issue. She knew one of the Vulcan ships was shadowing her to make sure she completed the trip without incident, but for the most part she had the illusion of privacy.

The illusion, because although the Prophet had ceased to actively inhabit her body, Lyassa could still feel the incorporeal being somewhere inside her soul. It would probably never leave. Not that Lyassa was particularly troubled by that idea.

Lyassa reached up and brushed her fingers gently against the hull. It had been difficult to say goodbye to Jim and his Leonard, but they were where they needed to be. The Prophet had shown her the delicate balance of events necessary to ensure the continued survival of so many people and planets, and Leonard McCoy and Jim Kirk’s presence in Starfleet was a vital link in the chain. They would be there in three years tn confront the Romulans, and the trauma of that event would lay the foundation for a stronger Federation in years to come.

It would need that strength. Lyassa remembered what the Prophet had shown her about the Dominion, that powerful force from the Gamma Quadrant that would threaten to overwhelm not only the UFP, but the Romulan Empire and the Cardassian Union. They would come soon, and they all needed to be ready.

And this will help, whispered the Prophet in the depths of her mind. _Bajor and Vulcan will be united, and Jim will not forget you when he is made Captain. Bajor will be strong._

 _And the Imutta will be free_ , thought Lyassa, and she thought she could feel the Prophet’s smile. _All of us will be able to choose our own destinies._

Lyassa closed her eyes and let the _Dream_ carry her onward toward Vulcan, toward the future.


End file.
